What 'Love' Means to Me
by theladyknight
Summary: COMPLETE What if it had been Sora and not Mimi who had moved to New York. Through the help of some old memories, Yamato explains how "Love" affected him and changed his life...(SORATO-story has been edited and redone)
1. Feel

What 'Love' Means to Me

By theladyknight

Summary: What if it had been Sora and not Mimi who had moved to New York. Through the help of some old memories, Yamato explains how "Love" affected him and changed his life...(SORATO)

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or any of the characters in it. "Feel" is the property of Robbie Williams, so don't sue me!

**-According to the fanfiction administrators, lyrics can't be added in the fics. So, today, the 27th of April 2005, I've decided to go back and do the laborious task of taking them out, while at the same time revamping this story. I always thought it could be better, so here's my chance...-**

Chapter 1: Feel

I've always hated the rain. For some reason, I've been cursed with the unfortunate luck of receiving horrible news whenever it rains. It started back when I was a kid. My little brother and I were playing outside when tiny droplets of water began their descent.

**Flashback**

_"C'mon Keru, we've gotta get inside!"_

_My brother turned to look at me with a pout on his face. "But Yama…we were having so much fun." Takeru gave a laugh as the rain began to show its wrath. "I wanna jump in the puddles!"_

_I laughed too. "Mom and Dad won't be happy if we get sick. How 'bout we come back out after the rain stops and splash in the puddles?"_

_"Promise?" he asked me, blue eyes growing larger._

_"Promise." I smiled. "Now let's get inside. The two of us headed into our apartment building, racing each other up the stairs. Mom and Dad were seated in front of us on the sofa, one on each end. _

_"Yamato, Takeru," my mother began, "your father and I have something to tell you."_

_"Are we getting a pony?" Takeru exclaimed, "I've always wanted a pony!"_

_My father cleared his throat. "No son, we're not going to be getting a pony. What your mother and I want to say," he cast a nervous glance at his wife, "is that…Yamato and I…well, we're going to be moving to another apartment…"_

_"But why?" Takeru asked suddenly. "I wanna stay with Yama."_

_My mother chose this opportunity to speak up. "Takeru, honey, you're going to be staying with me. We're going to be living right here!"_

_"No! Why do Yama and Daddy have to move?" He asked, tears beginning to form in his eyes. My mom and dad avoided each others gaze, and I knew what was happening. There would be no more brawls at 2:00 in the morning, no more screaming matches during dinner…then it hit me: no more living with my brother._

_"Why!" I yelled, standing up, my quick temper, which wouldcome to develop more in the future,getting the better of me. "Why are you putting us through this. If you really loved us you would never do this! Don't you care about anyone other than yourselves?" I got up and walked to my room, slamming the door. I could care less if it made a racket, broke a picture frame, or frankly about anything else. I sat down on my bed, trying to cool myself down. With a creak, my door opened. I turned to yelled at whomever it was who decided to barge in on me only to see it was my little brother._

_"Yama," he asked quietly. Takeru was barely able to contain his tears. "Do Mommy and Daddy hate us?" he asked._

_I turned to face him, not noticing the tears beginning to form in my eyes as well. "No, Keru, they don't hate us. They just," I had to think of a way to explain it to him, "they just…you know how when two people love each other and want to be with each other, they get married."_

_"Yeah," he answered, sniffling. I wiped the tears off my little brother's face._

_"Well, Mom and Dad, they…they don't love each other like they used to. You know how they always yell at each other. They want to live apart from each other so they don't yell at each other anymore." I explained._

_"But…but why do they have to separate us?" My little brother asked. _

_A tear fell down my face, the last one I would cry for a very long time. "I...I don't know, Keru." I gave my little brother a hug as the door opened once again._

_It was my father. "Yamato, its time for us to go."_

_"But…" Takeru started._

_My father looked guilty for a moment before brushing the feeling off. "No buts, son. Let's go Yamato." My father grabbed a hold of my hand and led me away from my brother. As we walked down the stairs, well, my father walked, I was pulled, I looked over my shoulder and saw the last of my brother I would until the digital world adventure. At that point in my young life, as we walked through the bitter cold downpour, I vowed never to let anyone get close to me because in the end they would only hurt me. As our van drove off and we drove off into the violent storm, I remembered my promise to Takeru. And from that point on I hated the rain as well._

**End Flashback**

From then on, whenever the rain let down its fury upon the earth, I always seemed to receive bad news. I found out about my dog Smokey's death on a day full of rain, lightning, and thunder, as well as my great-uncles death, a failed math test, and many other things I could not even begin to describe.

Rain still affected me now, even at the age of fifteen, a teenager ready to enter my last year of junior high. I sat in my room, playing my guitar and watching the water droplets pound against my window. I knew today would be no different than any other rainy day. As if knowing my thoughts, the phone rang.

I hesitated at first but then decided not to delay the inevitable. "Hello,"

"Yamato?" a small, sad voice asked. I recognized it as that of one of my two best friends.

"Oh, hey, Sora." Instantly I knew something was wrong. Not just because of the rainy day curse but because Sora was never one to be down or dreary. Sora always wore a brilliant smile that covered her face and always made anyone around her happy. Well, she is the bearer of love and always there for any of us chosen children. I have to admit, of all us digidestined, Sora understands me the best. She's the one I'll go to if I have a problem. I can put on my usual mask to cover my problems with anyone but her. She can always see through and sense if something is wrong.

Sora and I have become quite close ever since our adventure in the digital world. She, Taichi, and I will be entering our final year at Odaiba Junior High, and the three of usare still the best of friends.

The digital world adventure marked an incredible turning point in my life. It really affected the person I've become and the way I live my life. Before that summer camp, the one I so grudgingly was forced to attend, I was alone. Sure, I had friends, but none of them really understood me and were there the way I would have liked.

Camp changed me, though. The campers there changed me. The story's fairly simple, so I won't linger on the details. We all went through thick and thin together, good and bad, right and wrong choices, the whole works. But we faced every one of those endeavors together. The people I met at camp and the relationships I formed have come to mean so much to me. Every one of my friends plays a strong role in my life, and over the past few years, the role Sora plays has only grew.

She's like the older sister to everyone. I can't even begin to fathom the number of times she broke up the chaotic arguements between Taichi and me, looked out for Takeru, or guided one of us back onto the right moral path. But sometimes, sometimes I wonder if there is ever anything more than friends in our future. Yes, I'll admit it, I have a tiny crush on Sora. I can't really say how long these feelings have grown. My guess is that they were planted back during the digi world adventure, fed and nutured through our years following, and finallynow sprouting for me to see.

But I don't really want to act on these thoughts for a variety of reasons.We're only fourteen. No matter how many different media outlooks proclaim "love at first sight", I'll be the first to disagree. I don't want to delve into a romantic relationship, mainlybecause of the impactmy parents' divorce had on me. And I have no ideahow it wouldaffect ourown relationship orrelationships with our friends. That also brings up the point of our otherbest friend, Taichi. He and Sora have been the best of friends since they were in diapers, and I'm pretty sure they both have long since developed a crush oneach other. It would be wrong, moving in on something like that. But right now, I don't have time to worry about that.

"Sora, what's the matter?"

I heard a sniffle from the other line. "Yama, I, I'm moving."

I was silent. I had to be sure I heard her right. "Moving where, Sora?"

She whispered the next part. "New York."

"America!" I exclaimed. "Why?"

"My father wasoffered a teaching position at a major universtity. It's a once-in-a-lifetime offer. Everyone's been telling him to go.The job just happens to be in New York."

"But…" I didn't want to complain. It wasn't her fault. Besides, if I was angry I can only imagine what she's feeling. "Sor, I'm sorry."

"Me too, Yama. I don't want to go. All my friends are here, everything I know is here."

"Hey," I began soothingly. "If you need someone to talk to or let your anger out to, just call me anytime, okay."

She sniffled again. "Thanks, Yama. I have to go call Mimi. I'll talk to you later."

"Later." I repeated and hung up the phone. God, how I hate the rain.

A/N: So what'd you think? I promise there'll be much more Sorato in the next few chapters. PLEASE review; I want to know what you all think!


	2. She Will Be Loved

What 'Love' Means to Me

By theladyknight

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or the song "She Will Be Loved" by Maroon 5.

**-If you'd like to read the original version with the lyrics, e-mail me at theladyknight06(at)hotmail(dot)com And should you want the lyrics to any of these songs, check out****http/lyrics(dot)astraweb(dot)com/**-

Thanks to Aino Yuy aka Usagi-Hater, Yama-sama, B.R. Wells, thetwentyone, and BlueRag for the reviews! Enjoy and please R/R!

Chapter 2: She Will Be Loved

I fell back onto my bed, nearly dropping my guitar. Sora's words had really just started to sink in. She was leaving. Who knew if she was ever coming back. I held my hands to my head as I felt a headache coming on. There'll be no more walking to school together making fun of Taichi, no more late night hour-long phone conversations about how our parents really don't understand what it's like to be a teenager, no more prank calls to the local pizza place, sending twenty pizzas to the Yagamis, no more…Sora.

In the midst of all this I had to chuckle. When I first met Sora, four years ago I never thought I'd feel this way about her. Our first impressions were not exactly what you would call normal…

**Flashback**

_I landed on the hard ground with a loud thump and opened my eyes to see a strange little creature in front of me. He introduced himself as a Digimon by the name of Tsunomon. Looking around, I had absolutely no idea where I was or how I had gotten there. One minute I was standing at camp with a couple of other kids, and then bam, here I am lost in the middle of a forest with this strange little creature who claims to be my partner. _

_This creature told me to follow him, and he'd lead me to my friends. I had to think a minute before following him; what friends? Was he referring to those other kids I'd been with before I'd somewhat magically arrived here? Tsunomon suddenly stopped next to another creature that looked somewhat like him but was pink and didn't have a horn. Standing next to this other Digimon, or I assumed it was a Digimon, was a redhead, one of the girls from the group I'd been standing with. This girl was in my grade at school, but I don't think I've ever talked to her. I think her name is Sora. She turned to face me and a gigantic smile crossed her face._

_"Yamato, right?" she asked. I nodded my head in response. "Thank goodness I found another human in the place. I was beginning to wonder if I was alone. Do you have any idea where we are?" she asked quizzically, her brow creased in wonder. I felt my stomach do a flip and had to force myself to string a few words together to make something logical come out. What's happening to me?_

_"No idea. The last thing I remember is being at camp. I have no idea where we are or how we got here for that matter." I answered. What's wrong with you Ishida, it's just a girl! My stomach was leaping incredible bounds each time I looked at her. She was fairly tall and slim with brilliant red hair and ruby eyes that were so full of life. Looking at her made me want to smile uncontrollably. I turned quickly so she wouldn't catch me staring._

_She shook her head in agreement. "I wonder where the others are? Maybe they're here as well. We'd probably better go look for them. What do you say, Yamato?"_

_I looked over at her once again. "I guess. We'd better take these two along, Tsunomon and…"_

_"Pycomon__," she supplied, then reached out her hand. "I'm Sora, by the way. I know we go to the same school and are in the same grade and all, but we've never really talked or been introduced." I took her hand and shook it, feeling a jolt of energy rush though. Both Sora and I pulled away quickly and looked at the ground. "Let's go." She said, regaining her composure first, obviously getting the same feel from the handshake that I had._

_Sora and I walked to a nearby tree and found a bunch of the other kids all gathered together, including my younger brother, Takeru. It had been ages since I had last seen him. He had grown up a lot and looked different then he had at our last encounter. Takeru, upon noticing me,darted over and gave me a hug. I returned it though only half-heartedly. Being able to love again and care about him or anyone for that matter was something I still had yet to learn. Since the day of my parents divorce I had vowed never to love, for fear of hurt or rejection and had basically forgottent the principle of love…_

**End flashback**

I got up off my bed and replaced my guitar in its case. Slowly, I walked over to my dresser and pulled the lone picture off the top of it. I brought it back to the bed and examined it. This picture showed the group of us, all eight digidestined right after our defeat of Apocalymon. There was Taichi, the undisputed leader of the group, my rival but alsovery closefriend. He and I had had plenty of differences, but realized when we worked together and put those differences aside, things worked out much better, andwe had a lot more in common than different.

Taichi's little sister Hikari was standing next to Takeru, both of them eight, innocent, and the best of friends. I had a strong feeling that someday in the future they would be more than friends, though.

Good old reliable Jyou was standing behind them, next to Mimi, the bearer of sincerity, and Koushiro, who like usual was bearing his laptop computer. I'd bet almost anything there would someday be a romance between Jyou and Mimi or Mimi and Koushiro as well. Quite honestly I was leaning towards Mimi and the boy genius, but you never know what could happen.

I was there, of course, on the outskirts of the group; friends with them, but still requiring my own bit of space. And last but certainly not the least was Sora. Her eyes shined with laughter and joy. We had just defeated one of the greatest enemies we would ever face, and her face showed all the emotions we the chosen children felt, but love for all apparent more than anything else.

We'd all learned that our crests suited us more than we could have imagined. Taichi's courage was blatantly clear through his actions as leader, pulling us together in times of need and taking charge. My crest of friendship took time to understand, time by myself more than anything. But through the help of the others, particularly Jyou and Sora, I learned I really did deserve it.

Jyou's reliability is something no one ever doubted. He appeared at first glance just another scaredy-cat, ready to hide behind a tree or bush when times got rough, but he stuck things out and showed true bravery. Koushiro's gift of knowledge was probably the most apparent. He was book smart, never something anyone would challenge, but through our adventure, learned to be people smart, aware of those around him and their feelings.

Sincerity struck true with Mimi. She was never afraid to say what she really meant. While she did complain a bit, she always was there to offer encouraging words and advice. Hikari was the child of light. The battle against Mytotismon only confirmed the inevitable. She willingly gave herself up to save Sora and myself...if that doesn't describe her selflessness in a nutshell, I don't know what does.

My little brother carries more hope than anyone I know. Takeru, starting the days immediately after the divorce, always held out a hope our family would reunite, and he carried that trait over into the digi world. And finally Sora...no one fit their crest as well as she did.

Sora was like the mother of the group. Takeru and Hikari loved her like an older sister, Takeru once comparing her to a mother figure. She was always there for all of us no matter how big, small, complicated, or miniscule our problems were. Lending a hand was never a choice for Sora, it was an automatic reflex. She was the peacemaker, the reasoner, the encourager, and the shoulder to cry on. But though Sora was always the first to jump if others needed help, she, just like me, would bottle up her own emotions and problems, not letting them out till they got the better of her.

**Flashback**

_We had defeated Etemon and were just encountering the new and dangerous evil Myotismon possessed. The group, once split up, was all back together with the exception of one person: Sora. She had been following us, it seemed, always sneaking in from the shadows to save the day and our friendships when it appeared all hope was lost. But now, as our digivices illuminated a dot, showing her location mere miles away from us, it seemed as though she was trying to hide._

_Flymon had attacked us, and Birdramon flew to our rescue. Taichi, Takeru, and I, along with our Digimon, ran to find Sora, knowing she was close. Sora put up a fight, running through the land trying to evade us, but in the end it was to no avail. We caught up with her, and she revealed the source of her dilemmas, her crest of love._

_To any of us, it was obvious why Sora received the crest she did. None of us had seen a better display of love from anyone other than Sora. It wouldn't be right not to call her the bearer of love. Unfortunately, Sora did not understand why fate had destined her to be the child of love. She explained, in great sorrow, tears flying freely, about her relationship with her mother and how she felt she had never known love and had no love to give._

_Around that time, Taichi, though he was a strong leader, showed how little his level of sensitivity was. He tried lightening the mood by cracking a joke. It was a good gesture, but it backfired on him, ending up dissing Sora. I yelled at him to leave her alone; it was obvious she was upset, and I didn't want him adding to her already distraught mood. But really truthfully, the only thing I wanted to do was to take Sora in my arms and give her a hug telling her everything would be all right and not to worry. Of course, I didn't have the guts to do it, and I had no idea where the feeling came from in the first place! Maybe it was a result of someone never offering to do that simple yet loving gesture to me. I could only wonder. But Taichi would blow, and Sora would have to break up our fight. Besides, I had convinced myself she liked Taichi and it was only a matter of time before they got together._

_But the hero of the situation, the one who got through to Sora, was the littlest one, Takeru. He walked up to her and told her how much he liked her and how she was always caring for him, just likeour mother. At that point, Sora began to understand how extensive love could be and what it really meant to love someone._

**End Flashback**

Because of Sora, I too learned how powerful love could be. Love isn't just a word to describe the feelings you get when you care about someone so much you would do anything for them. Love is so much more. I placed the picture back on my dresser taking one last glance at Sora's beautiful face. Sora is Love...

**-Chapter title is rather understandable. Expect the others to appear soon along with hints of a few other relationships. I think this reformating it turning out for the better...-**

A/N: Well, let me know what you think! Please review!


	3. Walk On

What 'Love' Means to Me

By theladyknight

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or any of its characters and the song "Walk On" belongs to U2.

**-Normal spiel; there are more changes added in, and quite honestly, I think the story improves tons with them-**

A/N: Hey everyone! I'm back with the next chapter. Yama's remembering the time he, Sora, and the other Chosen are back in the real world, searching for the eighth child. And of course there is plenty of sorato! Please read and review, and I hope you like it…

**_Sorato fan all the way:_**_ Thank you! You said basically a lot of the things I've been thinking after I received the review! Sorato forever! (I wonder if that last comment will merit another "award"?) _

**_Gta Jake MK-II: _**_There's something I've been meaning to ask you; if you don't like the fic then why do you read it and "write a long-winded review on how horrible this fic is." I'm sorry you don't like the fic, and you seem to think I'm a bad writer. Quite honestly, if you have a problem with my writing or writing style for that matter, I would appreciate a review telling me what exactly you hate about it instead of an automated response denoting me as someone who "horribly raped a character of their good image" or is "a standard idiot". And maybe you should follow your own advice; respecting other peoples reviews and opinions and not insulting them. Aren't you doing the same thing you harped upon in your review by belittling my reviewers and myself? Just some food for thought..._

**_Dark Cow: _**_Thanks for your support! I hope you like this chapter!_

**_Sorato4eva: _**_Thanks! I like your stories too and hope you update soon!_

**_Yume-dream:_**_I really appreciate your review and hope you like what's to come in the story._

**_BlueRag: _**_I'm glad you like it; and you may expect some Koumi in the future…_

**_Aino Yuy aka Usagi-Hater:_**_Thanks for both the very supportive reviews and sticking by my writing and me when other reviewers have insulted it and me._

Chapter 3: Walk On

After hours of thinking about Sora, I turned on my computer to see how the other chosen were dealing with the news of Sora's departure. I logged onto the Internet and went straight to my e-mail inbox in case any of the others had written with more information or in an attempt to sort out their emotions. My inbox was full with plenty of e-mails from both Digidestinded and junk mailers, but one caught my eye immediately. It was from Mimi and the subject was "Regarding Sora". I opened it up to find out Sora had divulged in great detail what had caused them to move and when it would happen.

Her father had been offered a top job as a guest lecturer at a university in New York, just as Sora had told me, and this job would be very beneficial to him and his family should he accept it. Her mother and father both agreed it would be in the family's best interests for him to accept the position. Underneath it all, I know Sora, and the rest of us as well, understand her family is making the decision that will best help them, and she respects that, but she also has so much here she doesn't want to leave behind.

I closed Mimi's e-mails and quickly read the others' responses to Sora's news. Most were confused and saddened, others like Taichi were nearly beside themselves. He and Sora had known each other since they were very little and had always been the best of friends through thick and thin. I typed Taichi a note telling him I know how he feels, leaving out the fact I have a growing infatuation with Sora which is possibly, rapidly turning into something more. When I had read everything I could bear to read, I logged off and shut down the computer. According to Mimi's message, Sora would be leaving in three weeks, the same time she, Taichi, and I would have begun school.

Looking at the clock, I realized my father would be home soon, and I had better be in bed before them. With a heavy heart, I lay down and somehow drifted into a strong slumber full of visions of Sora.

* * *

The next few days passed pretty quickly. Taichi, being the leader and quick decision maker, decided we would make these last three weeks the most fun Sora had ever had. From pool parties to sleepovers we did everything we could to make her last days in Japan as memorable as possible. If one of us chosen had to work or do something else, chances are the rest of us would be right there with them. We went to all of Taichi's soccer games, Takeru's basketball games, helped Sora and her mother pack up the flower shop, and a lot of time was spent listening to my band sit and rehearse.

That always seemed to be Sora's favorite thing to do. She would sit there with her eyes closed, listening to the music, occasionally tapping her foot to the rhythm. I assumed music helped her escape from the world and problems she was facing now, the same reason music has appealed so much to me in my life.

Music had affected my life so much. In the digital world, my harmonica usually was my one escape. If I had fought with Taichi, yelled at Jyou, or been too protective of Takeru, I would go off by myself and let the sweet sound of music take over me. That is probably one of the reasons I decided to take up the bass guitar after we had arrived back in the real world. Music had helped me get through my problems and relaxed me, which ultimately led up to making friends with seven of the greatest people I have ever met. I wanted to share this wonderful gift that had saved me from a life of depression and darkness with others.

So during at the beginning of our current break, I sought out three other guys my age that could play instruments and possibly sing. Yutaka, Akira, and Takashi, three guys in my grade and in a bunch of my classes were the perfect candidates. They were all talented and up to the challenge. Together the four of us make up the Teenage Wolves; try and guess where the name came from. I, being, the founder am basically the leader.

The band hadn't started out all that great. We'd had plenty of problems, namely settling on a time we could meet and more importantly a place. No one wanted to be around listening to "a bunch of young kids _trying _to play music." There weren't very many people who felt we even deserved a chance, but Sora did.

**Flashback**

_It had been nearly three months since our little band had started. Truthfully, I'd be the first to admit we weren't that great. Nothing had yet to come together, nothing flowed, nothing made any sense. _

_We were all beginning to wonder if it had been a good idea to get involved in this mess in the first place. Akira had left one day almost positive he would quit soon. The others, including myself, were all in the same boat._

_But it had been Sora who saved the day, go figure. She arrived at our rehersal one night, probably the night the band would have dissolved, not even flinching as Yutaka broke his third guitar string of the night._

_Sora pulled me aside as we took a five minute break. "What's wrong, Yama?"_

_"I'm pretty sure the band has about had it, Sor. Our dream just doesn't seem possible anymore."_

_"Why not?" She persisted. "You guys shouldn't be giving up on your dream just like that. It's going to take a lot of hard, dedicated work to accomplish this. People are going to be interested in what you do once everything starts coming together. But if you all quit now...well, I'm going to be the only one who knows how great you guys could've been, of course, with the exception of the four of you." She turned to face the others. _

_Slowly, first Takashi then the others...we all nodded. All thanks to Sora..._

**End Flashback**

A week after Sora had told us she was leaving, I found myself standing outside my father's workplace, the television station. I had a meeting with a high level executive, with my goal being to land us a televised concert sometime. The band was becoming more popular (we hadn't decided to quit, and things were definitely looking up),and we had heard, via my father, they were looking for some specials to help boost ratings. Looking at the radio station made me think of Sora, and for another good reason…

**Flashback**

_We the seven digidestined were back in the real world, searching for the eighth child. Gennai told us we must find him or her before Myotismon did, or the results would be dire. As he was ravaging his attack on the city, my father having escaped from the television station and Myotismon's henchmen, put Gabumon and me into hiding in an old abandoned building. Time passed and I saw Taichi running by carrying Agumon. With him was a little girl around Takeru's age. I figured it was his sister._

_Taichi informed me his sister Hikari was the eighth child and asked me to watch her as he went to find their parents. Let's just say, I wasn't exactly a very good babysitter. My relationship with Takeru wasn't the strongest, and I hadn't been around a kid like her for a while and had never babysat anyone before in my life. I was getting pretty antsy for Taichi to return especially after making Hikari cry. My digivice beeped. Taichi said he'd be back by now. I was wondering what the holdup was, and Hikari looked up at me anxiously, expecting me to announce our plan of attack. I didn't know what to do. Out of nowhere I heard a voice. "Hey, is anybody here?"_

_I turned around and faced the door. I knew that voice and it wasn't Taichi's. Sprinting to the door, I called out, "Sora! What's up?"_

_Her face came into view as she swooped down on Birdramon who was carrying some sort of Digimon that I had never seen before. "Yamato! Thank goodness!" she said, beaming at me and rushing to the ground. Hikari came out too. "Myotismon's rounded up the whole district; he's holding them all at the convention center." I looked at her eyes that told so much about her. She was worried, and it showed in her ruby orbs._

_"So what do we do now?" I asked. Another voice yelled out. He called himself Phantomon and brought with him Tuskmon and Snimon, ordering them to attack us. I called upon Gabumon to digivolve. He and Birdramon took off and began fighting. The battle was not looking in our favor. Phantomon launched himself at me throwing his chain. I dodged it, ducking away._

_"Get back!" Sora yelled, coming at him with a stick. He pushed her back, and she landed on the ground next to the other Digimon._

_I looked around, trying to find Phantomon. Out of nowhere, a chain managed to wrap itself around my neck. I began coughing and struggling to free myself as Phantomon pulled it tighter. So this was it. Garurumon had gotten thrown over a building and was slowly working his way back but would never make it to me on time. Birdramon was locked in battle with Snimon. I looked over at Hikari, standing there, eyes darting around. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. Sora's eyes locked with mine. Hers were full of compassion, sympathy, fear, and something I couldn't recognize. Goodbye Sora, I never got to tell you how I feel about you. Please watch out for my little brother. I was prepared to feel my final breathes when suddenly a bright red glow caught my eyes as Sora's crest shone through. Phantomon loosened his grip on me, and I took a few quick breaths. I wasn't going to die, at least not yet. "Birdramon digivolve to….Garudamon!"_

_Snimon rounded on Garudamon as Garurumon tackled Tuskmon. Phantomon decided choking me to death was more entertaining then watching the display in front of him. "Kinda chokes you up doesn't it!" he exclaimed sarcastically. The next thing I knew I was being released, and Garurumon came over to me. Hikari was giving herself up to save us. Sora and I yelled at her to stop, but it was to no avail. _

_"Hurry Yamato, stop her!" Sora exclaimed as Phantomon got ready to bring her up to his evil master in a little bubble._

_"No, Hikari!" I exclaimed inching forward, thoughts of my near-death experience long gone. "You don't know what you're doing! You can't give yourself up to Myotismon! He'll destroy you and take control of both worlds! Hikari, no!" _

_Subconsciously, my legs carried me to the wall. I raised my fist and hit it as hard as I could, not caring about the pain. Myotismon would take over the world all because of me. I hit the wall again repetitively. Sora stood, clutching her hands near her heart._

_"It's not your fault." She whispered sympathetically._

_"Yes it is." I countered. "I blew it! Taichi asked me to protect her, and I couldn't. I let everyone down! Oh!" I exclaimed. Sora turned to face me, inching closer._

_"All right, Yamato." She said sharply. Surprised by her tone of voice, I stopped hitting the wall. "There are two things you can do about this: number one you can stand there and beat yourself up about the whole thing, or number two __**we**__" she placed heavy emphasis on the word, "can find a way to rescue Hikari. What's it gonna be!" _

_I lifted my head up and faced her. "Your right. Let's get her." I tried to walk away, to leave the spot, but my feet stayed planted to the ground. Sora noticed this and walked over._

_"C'mon, we've gotta go save Hikari before Myotismon does something horrible to her." Guilt sunk into me once more. I never deserved the crest of friendship or any crest for that matter. Suddenly there was a sharp pain on my face. I held my hand up, feeling the place where she had slapped me. "Ishida Yamato!" she exclaimed. I looked up into her eyes and gulped; they were blazing with fury. She grabbed onto both my hands so I couldn't hit back or hit the wall again. "Would you stop saying it is your fault! Fate just decided to play an evil trick on us. But we will get Hikari back" She was starting to get through to me. "Yamato, why are you taking it all out on yourself."_

_"I don't want to see another broken family. It would kill Taichi and his family if they lost Hikari." I had no idea why I was telling her this, from the depths of my heart._

_She looked up into my eyes, and I noticed a faint blush appearing on her face. But it disappeared as suddenly as it had shown up in the first place. "You come from one, don't you?" I looked at her confused. "A broken family, I mean. I heard you and Taichi talking one night. You said Takeru is your half brother. Is he really?"_

_Something about the calm way she said everything made me want to spill the inner secrets of my heart out to her right here and now. The gravity of the situation at hand, however, sunk in. "We've gotta go save Hikari."_

_"We will but answer me first, Yamato. Takeru's not your half brother is he?"_

_She had caught me. "Fine. Takeru is not my half brother. Our parents split up when we were little. This is the first time I've seen him since the day of the divorce. I just told that to Taichi to get him to stop bugging me about why I'm so protective over Keru." I said using the nickname I used to call him._

_Sora smiled at me. "Now that wasn't so hard was it? You don't give yourself enough credit, Yamato. You're more deserving of the crest of friendship then you think." My mouth nearly fell open. How did she know the inner battles my heart fought? "Let's go." We both made to leave and climb on our Digimon when we realized we were holding hands. "Sorry," we murmured in unison and turning bright _

**End flashback**

I stood in the executive's office, explaining to her why a music special would be the right choice to help boost ratings and bring a lot of entertainment to the city. The executive told me she would call after her decision was made, but I walked out of there nearly confident I had landed us a spot on TV.

As I left the station, I looked once more at the place Sora and I had stood four years ago. She had encouraged me to go on after I nearly gave up on myself. And she was the one who encouraged me to go ask for a spot on television. I then noticed the spot that Snimon and Tuskmon attacked us again. The minute they aimed for Sora my crest went off. She was right about my crest, I did possess friendship. Hmm, I never thought about it before but our crests went off for each other when the other was in danger. Could that possibly mean we were meant to be more then friends? I never realized how well our crests go together until now. Love and Friendship...

_A/N: I hope you all liked it! Please Review and tell me what you think! I'll update soon._

**_-_I'm going to call it a night; I'm exhausted. I got back from a soccer game 2 hours ago--we won 5-1 and I got a goal and assist--but I was really motivated to go over at least one chapter of this cause one of my closest friends won the long jump at the prestigous Drake Relays. So thanks to her, another chapter got edited...-**

_…theladyknight _


	4. I Will Carry You

What 'Love' Means to Me

By theladyknight

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or the song "I Will Carry You" by Clay Aiken.

A/N: Here's Chapter 4 featuring Yama saving Sora from the darkness! Thanks to all the reviewers and I hope you all will enjoy the fic. Please R/R!

**_Blondie121147:_**_ Thank you! I love your fic Her Choice, it is one my all-time favorite stories by far! I hope you update soon and like this chapter!_

**_Thetwentyone:_**_ Thanks for the suggestions. I'm not a big flashback person myself, but they're needed for the fic. But after this chapter, I apologize right now cuz there's a lot here, there'll be lots more dialogue and hardly any more flashbacks! Hope you enjoy! _

Chapter 4: I Will Carry You

Before I knew it, the week was over. The guys and I spent a lot of time just hanging out with Sora at all her favorite places. We played a wild game of mud soccer, which was a blast and consisted of Mimi complaining a lot because her clothes got all muddy. We hung out at the movie theater, the arcade, everywhere Sora loved to go.

She covered up her emotions really well around the others,fooling everyone but me. Sora always smiled and appeared to be having fun,but I could see right through the mask she put on. The whole time she wanted us to think she was okay and enjoying every minute of it. There were only two weeks left and she knew how short they could be.

As we made our way to the local amusement park one day, I caught her eye, giving her a smile to let her know I would support her whenever she needed supporting. For the first time since Jyou and Koushiro had pushed Mimi into the mud during our rowdy soccer game, she gave a real genuine smile.

Ever since the dgital wrld, friendship has been one of the easiest things for me in my life. Most people at school look at me as the loner and rebel. Yet they don't understand why I'm best friends with the loudmouthed Taichi or the pink-crazed Mimi. I make my friends by my own accords, not just with the popular people or jocks. I'm friends with the former president of the computer club and a star tennis player, what more could I want.

We were all surprised when Sora had taken up tennis. I, and I imagine all the others, assumed she would land herself a spot starting center midfielder on the girls'team. However,she shocked us all by quitting soccer and moving onto tennis.

**Flashback**

_"So, Sor, did you go to tryouts yesterday?" An entergetic Taichi asked._

_The girl smirked at him. "You seem happy, Tai."_

_I could tell she was changing the subject, but her comment seemed to distract the bushy-haired teen. "Yeah, I made the cut. Coach said I just may end up starting at one of the wing spots."_

_"That's great, Taichi. And it comes to as no surprise either."_

_"Well, what about you? Starting at midfield, I assume."_

_Sora paused for a second, finally deciding on the right choice of words. "Actually, I didn't try out for the team."_

_Taichi and I each gave her a dumbfounded expression. Moments later, as our other friends joined us under the tree in the park where we met everyday, they were all in the same vegetated state. Koushiro gave her a blank look. "Could you elaborate, please?"_

_She let out a light laugh, suprising us all. "It was just time for a break. Soccer is something I'm always going to love, but I've been interested in tennis for quite some time as well. I've been playing it a lot over the past few weeks, and I just get this...powerful rush I don't get from soccer. I don't really know how to explain it. It just seemed like the right thing to do to switch. I didn't want to spend all of my school years wondering what it would be like to play tennis. So I took a chance."_

_I smiled at her. "If that's what you want to do, go for it, Sor. I'm sure you'll be great at tennis, just like soccer. And it adds another sport where you can kick Taichi's butt."_

_"She cannot beat me!" Tai boldly proclaimed._

_Jyou raised an eyebrow. "How about that one time when you played in the park..."_

_Tai's face tinted red. "So?"_

_"Or that time she beat you at the soccer fields..." Mimi stated._

_"Or the time she embarrassed you in PE..." I cheekily replied. Sora gave me a large smile of appreciation._

_The brunette indignantly placed his hands on his hips. "Ancient history." He decided to change the subject, seeing as everyone else was against him. "Sor, I know you'll do just awesome at tennis. Go for it!..."_

**End Flashback**

Tennis certainly was something the bearer of love was fantastic at. Her talents shined through. Sora's new teammates were glad to have her on board, but her soccer team members were a bit mad.Two of her former teammates came and threatened to blackmail her into rejoining, but Sora handled it in her own way. The crest of love has helped her out a lot. She's so understanding of others' feelings and always is there to help. She convinced the girls why she decided to stop playing and they backed off and supported her.

Understandingis one of the things weare all going to miss about Sora. She always seemed to know the right things to say and could always give the best advice…

**Flashback**

_After defeating Myotismon and VenomMyotismon, the rest of the chosen and I were forced to go back into the digital world in order to stop the new evil which had appeared there. To make a long story short, we found them and Taichi and I got in a fight. Puppetmon, one of the Dark Masters, captured Takeru, and I nearly fell apart._

_Takeru appeared almost magically after that and began to tell us about his escape. I had had it and needed to get out. Gabumon followed me, and we went off on our own. Seeing Takeru escape all by himself not needing anyone's help really affected me. He didn't need me, and if he didn't, no one did._

_I sunk into depression allowing myself to be fooled by Cherrymon into thinking every problem I had encountered in my life was Taichi's fault. Gabumon promised to stick by me no matter what happened. My new philosophy on life was the only person you can depend on is yourself and in my case, my digimon._

_Taichi and I got into a very big fight along with our digimon when I got back. It was stopped when a being inhabitabed Hikari and told us why we were chosen to be digidestined. Taichi wanted to make amends with me, but I knew I wasn't at that point yet. My crest was the crest of friendship. Yet I didn't really understand what being a friend entailed. My life, so full of loneliness and solitude, had never really included friendship. I needed to go off by myself in order to, well, find myself._

_The group wasn't too happy with the decision. I promised to come back, and if it wasn't for Sora, I'm pretty sure I never would have been able to go. She tried to get us to split up into two big groups, but I knew I had to do this by myself. She looked me in the eyes, ruby spheres staring up at me, seemingly going through me. She told me she believed in me and would not stand in my way, also comforting my brother in the process. Thanks to Sora's words, he also gave me his support, which gradually led to the others acceptance._

**End Flashback**

Yep, Sora is the one I always go to for advice. She understands every query or question I have to offer and can give an obvious response or a careful, well-worded one. I checked my watch.

Today, with only two weeks left before Sora and her family left for New York, the gang was going to meet at the park. For some reason, even at our age, the park was ultimately the best hangout. With soccer fields, basketball and tennis courts, jungle gyms, and all sorts of things to do, it was an ideal location for any gathering. We were having a picnic today. I was in charge of bringing enough rice balls for all of us. I left the house, realizing I would be late if I didn't get moving my thoughts turning back to Sora and my friends.

Without friends like these I don't know where I'd be in this world. But even with friends one can still sink into depression and darkness as both Sora and I learned the hard way. If Sora had not believed in my then the darkness would have taken over me, and Sora, too, would have been trapped there.

It's a part of my life that I look back on with both regret and pride.

Regret is easy to distinguish. I let myself fallprey to the arms of depression. Igave up on my hopes, talents, dreams and desires, pushing theminto theback of my mind, and feeling like I wasn't good enough. But Gabumon talked me through it.

Pride is also easy to tell. It was a feeling I needed to experience after my lapse of darkness. I needed to feel needed. To feel wanted. To feel helpful. Tofeel...loved...

**Flashback**

_I was on a search to find myself, and Gabumon came to protect me. We usually traveled in silence, going long distances each and every day. It never bothered me. Growing up in a world full of loneliness made this adventure of ours perfect for me. _

_That was probably the reason the darkness had such an easy time consuming me. Somehow Gabumon and I had wound up in a dark cave with no idea how we got there. My thoughts were on Takeru and what a horrible brother I was. Gabumon tried to get me to snap out of it but nothing worked. I sat down, the darkness jumping out to greet me and happily consume me as its victim. _

_As I felt it begin to take over my already rather icy heart, Gabumon bit me in attempt to bring me back to reality. He managed to rationalize with me and talk me through the darkness. We promised to be friends forever and the darkness and cave both vanished…_

_Gabumon and I met up with Jyou and Takeru minutes after I was free from the darkness. However, after apologizing to my brother and getting all salutations out of the way, Keru informed us that Sora and Piyomon had been pulled into a hole much like the one I had been stuck in._

_The three of us, though Jyou was a bit reluctant, climbed into the hole, revealing a cave. Patamon heard a sound, and Gomamon realized it was Sora's voice. We rushed to the sound and found a frantic Piyomon attempting to break through the darkness covering Sora._

_I recognized it right away. So this is the way I looked. Sora appeared to be worse off than I had been. I needed to help. She was my friend though I still wanted to be more than friends with her. But right now all that mattered was saving her. "Sora, what's the matter with you, get up!" I exclaimed placing both my hands on her arm, attempting to pull her up. "She's stuck." Jyou came over, and we both tried to pull her up, but she would not budge. Suddenly she began to speak, not noticing us._

_She launched into an explanation of her feelings; how she was putting too much pressure on herself. "Just relax," I soothed, a true smile, something I hadn't shown in a while, lighting up on my face. "Everything's going to be alright now."_

_Sora looked up at me. "I'm afraid not. I haven't been trying hard enough. I have to get to Taichi and help him fight." She turned to look at Jyou. "Because if I don't, the whole world will be destroyed."_

_"You can't be responsible for saving the entire world." Jyou reasoned._

_"You have to realize how strong your negative feelings are. Sora, it's the darkness in your heart that's created the cave in the first place, don't you get it?" I exclaimed._

_Jyou and Takeru had both stopped looking at Sora and were gazing at me attentively. "Is that why you told Takeru not to be scared?" Jyou wondered._

_"Sora, listen to me," I begged, feeling my eyes grow softer and cold heart beginning to melt, "there's only one way to make this cave disappear. You have to reach deep inside your heart and erase all the negative feelings. _

_I could feel the cold darkness snap at me as though it knew I was trying to save Sora from it. "I don't know if I can," she replied meekly, "what should I do?"_

_It seemed as though some sort of light was emanating off me and stretching to Sora. I could sense the darkness cowering from it, yet still holding its victim with what little grasp it could manage. Sora was fighting. "You'll have to find the answer to that question on your own." As much as I wanted to help her, I knew the only way the darkness could disappear was if she made it. It was her battle, but I could definitely be the encourager now. "Sora, this isn't the kind of thing you do because you have to. If you're going to do it then it has to be because you want to."_

_"You mean that I don't have to do it if I don't want to?" _

_I nodded my head. Come on Sora! "I'm so confused. How will I know what the right thing to do is?" she asked. The darkness was beginning to disappear. Jyou began encouraging her and the next thing we knew, a powerful light was coming from us and engulfed Sora. We both reached our hands to hers, and she gladly grabbed them, giving us a huge smile._

_"I get it now!" she exclaimed. "You were right, Yamato! How did you know?" she asked as Takeru and the digimon beamed at her._

_"I kinda went through the same thing myself," I replied, grinning like a fool. I never doubted you Sora. I'm glad you're back!_

_Piyomon rushed forward to embrace her partner. "Sora!"_

_"Piyomon!" Sora let go of Jyou's hand and very slowly let go of mine. I turned away from everyone to hide my blush. The cave disappeared, and we were outside. _

_"Taichi's waiting for us right now. Let's go!" I exclaimed facing Sora. She turned back to me and gave me a gigantic smile, eyes glowing and full of an emotion I had seen once before. As we began to walk away, I remembered the after effects of the darkness. I was walking behind Sora and began to warn her. "Um, Sora…" but before I could get any further, she swayed and fell over backwards. I stretched out my arms and caught her. Jyou, Takeru, and all our digimon looked over at us concerned. "It's okay," I said. "Gabumon, you and Piyomon will need to digivolve. That'll get us to Taichi and the others faster. Jyou put Takeru on Birdramon and get on Garurumon. I'll bring Sora once she's able to fly."_

_"Okay," Piyomon said. "I should have no problem digivolving! There's plenty of love in the air!" Sora glared at Piyomon while Jyou, Keru, and I caught each others' eyes. We really didn't know what she was talking about. Must be a girl thing! _

_I attempted to help Sora stand up, but her legs were still like jelly. Hesitantly, I wrapped an arm around her, allowing her to stand up, yet still be supported by me. Her head was slightly laying against my shoulder, and I knew I was blushing. "Yama," she said. I stopped. The only person who had ever called me that was Keru._

_"Yama?" I repeated._

_"I'm sorry," she said, "Yamat…"_

_I silenced her with a look. "Yama's fine. What is it?"_

_"Thank you," she whispered, closing her eyes. "You saved me from the darkness."_

_"Jyou and I." I stated, correcting her._

_She shook her head. "Yes, Jyou helped but if it wasn't for you…well, I don't think I would have ever escaped the darkness…" She trailed off. _

_"It's no problem," I answered. "I do it again in a heartbeat." Baka! Why did I say that! She's staring at me now! What can I do?_

_"I'll remember that." She said as we reached Birdramon. She finally regained the ability to walk yet still accepted my hand to help her get onto Birdramon…_

**End Flashback**

From that day on, I hardly ever heard the name Yamato escape Sora's lips. Sora began referring to me as Yama and still does to this day. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts, I bumped into someone as I turned the corner. "Sorry," I began extending a hand, only to notice who the other person was.

"Ishida, I would appreciate if you watched where you are going."

I grinned my best smile. "You're lucky I didn't drop the rice balls. Taichi would be pretty mad at you if I did."

Sora looked over at me, rolled her eyes, and mouthed the words, you're impossible. We walked together down the road in a comfortable silence and reached the crosswalk across from the park. Sora began to step out into it the street when a car came whizzing by. "Sora watch out!" I exclaimed, pulling her out of harm's way and into my arms.

"Thank you," she whispered, clinging onto me.

"Anytime." I replied. "Now come on. I'll hold your hand, just to make sure you're safe." I finished smirking.

"Baka," she replied but nonetheless accepted my hand. I had finally understood the meaning of friendship and was beginning to realize just how much and what Love means to me.

A/N: That took a really long time to type! I cut the flashbacks as much as I could but left what was needed (I think!). In case you're wondering, after he had escaped the darkness, Yamato was a little lightheaded and felt faint, which was what he was attempting to warn Sora of. I hope you guys like this chapter! I'll update soon and please review! 


	5. If You're Not the One

What 'Love' Means to Me

Bytheladyknight

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, any of its characters, or the song "If You're Not the One" by Daniel Bedingfield.

A/N: Chapter 5 is up! Yama and the others are back in the real world. We get a look at Yama's more recent memories, and there's a lot of brotherly love between Yama and Takeru in the beginning. Plus Takari and Koumi hints and plenty of humor. Hope you enjoy the chapter! Thanks to all my reviewers; you guys are so awesome!

_**Yama-sama:** Up till now, Yama is trying to figure out what Sora really means to him, if he's just infatuated or really in love with her. These memories are his means of doing so and are showing him his true feelings. Sora is going to leave for NY, sometime in the next few chapters, and everything else with hopefully come together or be explained soon! Thanks for the review!_

_**ishidas girl:** THANK YOU for the reviews! I'm glad you love the story. In regards to the whole rain thing in the first chapter, I love the rain too but I thought the whole depressing mood worked well with the first chapter and it was downpouring outside when I wrote the chapter. Keep writing and updating your fics; I love them!_

_**sorato4eva:** we'll just have to wait and see...thanks for the reviews, andI hope you update ur stories soon!_

Chapter 5: If You're Not the One

The picnic in the park seemed like a mere memory. I unfortunately got stuck working with my band the rest of the week. The last time I had seen Sora was when she, Taichi, and I caught a late movie a few nights ago. Our group outings were becoming less frequent. Sora always had to help pack up things and close up the shop while the rest of us were all becoming busy with our own activities.

Thursday morning, with only a week to go before Sora left, was my first free time in days. It turned out to be everyone's free afternoon as well, and we decided to take advantage of it by going to the local pool.

I had planned on sleeping in due to the fact that the band started the day early and ended pretty late in order to get things accomplished. However, as you might have guessed, it didn't happen as I had planned. The phone rang at 8:00. I grumbled as I woke p, throwing in a few curses along the way. Rolling over, I grabbed the phone next to my bed. "Yeah," I mumbled still half asleep.

"Onii-chan!" a voice exclaimed. I held the phone away from my ear as another voice joined in laughing.

I growled into the phone. "Takeru, you had better have a really good reason for waking me up at this godforsaken hour!"

"Calm down, Yamato,"A girl's voice added.

"Hikari, what are you doing over at my little brother's apartment?"

"How'd you know we're here?" Takeru asked. I figured they set it up so it was on speakerphone.

"Taichi wouldn't let you make a call this early or be this loud. He's probably still asleep, right?"

"Yep!"A bubbly Hikari answered. I groaned and got out of bed, looking at the mirror as I passed it. I've got small bags under my eyes and my hair; my precious blond hair is sticking up all over the place! I'm gonna need a lot of gel!

"Then why don't you WAKE HIM up so I can GET BACK TO SLEEP!" I roared. "And you never answered my question!"

Hikari giggled again. "Keru and I are working on a project."

"Oh really. And pray tell what exactly is this "project" about? Something I need to mention to Taichi maybe…" I smirked at the thought and could tell my little brother was blushing on the other line.

"We're not doing ANYTHING, Yamato!" Takeru exclaimed.

"Then WHY did you wake me up!" I repeated for what seemed to be the umpteenth time.

Hikari took over. "Koushiro and Mimi called both of us and asked us to find any picture or object we have with Sora in it. Our job was to tell you and the others. They're working on a scrapbook for her and need other pictures. Bring them to Koushiro's before noon. But Sora cannot know about it!"

"Duh," I said rolling my eyes. "Talk to you later. I've gotta go find pictures."

"And we've gotta go call Taichi."

"I take it he's your next victim. Ask him if he wants to join me in dunking our wonderful younger siblings in the pool tonight." They both laughed, and I hung up the phone on them. What happened to our cute innocent little siblings?

And when are they going to get their act together? Sora and both agreed a long time ago they were perfect for each other.

Smiling to myself, I went over to my closet, now fully awake. I would sacrifice my extra three hours of sleep for Sora any day. I walked over to my closet, dodging the things that were falling out at me as I opened the door. There, right in front of me, was the box I was looking for. Inside it were a bunch of pictures and odds and ends from my friends.

There was one thing in particular that I wanted to find. Digging through the box, I found a crumpled up piece of paper from last year. I looked down at the paper and remembered what it was from.

**Flashback**

_Sora and I had Japanese History class together, and it just wasn't the most interesting class. However, our teacher seemed to think everyone loved it and paid attention all the time. Three fourths the class and I spent class either sleeping or counting ceiling tiles. By the fourth day of school, I could bet you any dollar amount there were one hundred and thirty nine ceiling tiles in the room with fifty-two beige and the other eighty-seven being cream._

_Japanese History was our last class of the day and by far the longest. I was midway through counting the tiles for the fifth time that class period when a folded up piece of paper landed on my desk. I looked over at Sora, sitting just to my right, raising my eyebrow. She just smiled back as innocently as she could. I opened up the note trying to make as little sound as possible._

****

_Yama, this guy talks as much as Gennai and makes about as much sense as him!_

_I grinned at the thought and grabbed my pen to write back. This was much better than recounting the hundred and thirty-nine tiles again especially because Sora was writing to me! (A/N: What Sora wrote is in normal font and what Yama wrote has a dash in front of it)_

_-You're telling me, Sor. I bet only Koushiro could understand this._

Why'd we have to take this class in the first place?

_-Requirements. If it wasn't required I sure as heck wouldn't take it._

Me either. So how's Keru? I haven't seen him in a long time.

_-He's good, I think. Last time I saw him he couldn't shut up about Hikari._

They are PERFECT for each other, Yama. We've gotta play matchmaker.

_-I agree, Sor. But we'd better not let Taichi know. Otherwise big brother mode'll kick in. And he'll try to beat up Takeru, which means I'm going to have to step in and kick Taichi's butt for messing with my bro._

_Sora read my response and had to fake a coughing fit to control her laughter. Mr. Miyake glared at her but went back to teaching the students he believed were listening._

Go ahead and beat up Taichi. You've got my permission.

_-When have I ever needed…you want me to beat him up? I thought you were the one with the crest of love?_

Don't give me that Yama! You've got the crest of friendship.

_-Well why do you want me to beat Taichi up in the firs…_

_I was cut off when Mr. Miyake walked over and picked up the note. "Mr. Ishida, Ms. Takenouchi, a word after class."He walked back up to the front of class._

_Sora and I looked at each other with guilty smiles on our faces. The rest of the class snickered before going back to their counting._

_After class, we went up to his desk as the rest of our classmates hurried out of the class as fast as their two legs could carry them. "Yamato, Sora, I do not appreciate this kind of behavior in class. It is unfair for you to disrupt the class when your classmates are trying to learn." Sora nudged me with her foot. Something on his desk caught my eye as I went to kick Sora back. But I kicked a little bit too hard, and Sora laughed out loud while I bit my lip to conceal my laughter. Mr. Miyake focused on Sora and I took the chance to sneak my arm out and grab what I saw. "Do you have a problem, Ms. Takenouchi?"_

_"No, sir." She answered. "I just saw something funny in the hall."_

_"What?" he asked raising his eyebrows. Sora nudged me again._

_"Um, I saw it too sir." I said abruptly. "The janitor just slipped in a pile of water underneath the water fountain."_

****

_"Oh," our teacher said. "You two are free to go then, but I expect better behavior from the both of you. You are good students, and I expect you to act like it. Have a good afternoon." Sora and I bowed, walked out of the classroom, and sprinted out the doors._

_"How did you cook that story up?" Sora asked amidst peals of laughter._

_I laughed along with her. "I have no idea. It was the first thing that came to my mind."_

_Sora suddenly stopped laughing. "If he reads our note I'm in so much trouble! Oh, my parents are going to ground me forever! They told me if I get in trouble again, after our little science experiment incident, I would not leave theapartment until I'm thirty!"_

_I grinned and fished something out of my pocket. "He won't get a chance." I answered slyly._

_"You just saved both our butts, Yama!" she exclaimed. The next thing I knew she was right next to me and had wrapped her arms around me. "I owe you one!"_

_I turned crimson, hoping no one was around to see me blush yet at the same time savoring the moment. I wrapped my arms around her and returned the hug. "You bet you owe me one!" I exclaimed._

_Sora let go of me and looked at her watch. "We'd better go before the others wonder what's taking us so long."_

****

**End Flashback**

I laughed to myself recalling the memory. Those were the good old days. I lugged the humongous box out of my closet, sending up a cloud of dust and made a mental note to make an attempt at cleaning my room on the next free day I had.

With the box in front of me, I sat down on the floor and dug into it like a little child would tear open a Christmas present. Ugh, baby pictures; I am never letting anyone see these! Class pictures, no, pictures of the band, no, here we go. I unearthed the pictures from underneath a photo album with pictures from my father's side of the family.

These are more like it. The first one was a picture my mother had taken right after we'd gotten back from the Digital World. Takeru had begged for a picture with Sora, and at the last minute, decided he wanted me in it as well. In the picture Sora and I were leaning up against each other laughing while Takeru was beet red. I think Sora and I were laughing cause I asked her if we could take a picture of Takeru and Hikari hugging or something along those lines. Mom made us take another one, and I was given the so-called dud. But I sure didn't think it was one…

The next picture was the whole group. Then came some of Takeru and me. Then, bingo! I found a load of pictures with Sora in them. Here was one when we went to the water park. Damn she looked hot in that swimming suit. But man did she get angry after I dunked her one to many times. Hikari had just gotten into her photography obsession and took a picture of us after Sora had dunked me, trying to get even. However, whenever someone went to dunk me I would bring them down with me. If they felt like they could mess up my hair without a penalty, boy were they wrong.

The picture was taken right after we had come back up to the surface. Sora had a large grin on her face and had her arms draped around my neck and head nearly resting on my shoulder. I was glaring at her from the corners of my eye but a smile also played on my lips. I usually would complain when someone dunked me, but believe me, there was nothing to complain about in that picture.

Here was one of Sora, Jyou, Koushiro, andme at one of Taichi's soccer games; Mimi and Hikari dragging poor Sora through the mall; Sora, Jyou, and I throwing water balloons at Mimi; man where did all these pictures come from?

Pulling out the next picture, I had to laugh. It was from Halloween about two years ago. Takeru and Hikari begged Sora and I to take them out trick-or-treating. Tai would have come with us, but he was on some sort of traveling soccer squad and was out of town that night. The four of us collected a lot of candy and went back to my apartment to watch movies when it was all done. Sometime during _I Know what You Did Last Summer,_ (A/N: I don't own anything from that movie! It was the first thing that came to mind!) Sora and I fell asleep sitting on the sofa. Her head was resting on my chest with my head resting on top of hers, and our arms were intertwined. Good ol' Hikari had gotten a picture in case she or Takeru ever needed blackmail. But I got it back from Takeru when I was looking around his room once and encountered a couple pictures I'm sure Taichi would have loved to see. My little brother very happily coughed over the picture of Sora and me in exchange for me keeping quiet about those pictures I saw.

Next was a picture of Sora and I each holding giant cans of silly string, standing on either side of Taichi and mercilessly spraying it at him. I worked my way through the whole box finding hundreds of pictures before I realized how late it was getting. Crap, I've got fifteen minutes to get these to Koushiro!

I stood up and was about to leave my room when I realized I will still wearing my pajamas, and my hair looked like the Bride of Frankenstein's would. I threw on a different shirt and pants, thinking I'd take a shower before we all went to the pool. I looked at the clock once more and discovered I only had ten minutes to get to the computer genius's house. What am I supposed to do about the hair? Finally, I spotted something that would have to do for now. There lying on the floor under a pile of sheet music was one of Keru's white fishermen hats. He'd left it here the last time he visited. Cursing my bad luck and how stupid I looked, I pulled it onto my head quickly, grabbed the rather large stack of pictures and one crumpled note, and rushed out the door.

Luckily, Koushiro lived a whole minute and a half from my place. I ran up to the door to his apartment pausing to catch my breath before knocking. His mother let me in and ushered me into his room. I knocked on the door once before walking in.

There in front of me was Koushiro and Mimi both sitting at his computer and each with a hand on the mouse. They were gazing into each other's eyes faces edging closer together. I smirked and coughed rather loudly. They both looked over at me startled. "Oh hey Takeru, did you forget something or bring more pictures?" Mimi asked moving away from Koushiro and blushing bright red.

"Takeru?" I asked, glaring at her from underneath the hat, andfolding my arms.

Mimi and Koushiro both looked at me and shot double takes. The next thing I knew they were rolling on the ground laughing. "Ya..Yam..Yamato," Koushiro finally got out, "you look ridiculous!"

"Why are you wearing your brother's hat! It barely fits your head!" Mimi giggled. I rolled my eyes. It was true. The hat barely covered my hair, but it was better than walking around with my hair the way it was.

"Would you just leave it alone?" I growled, frustrated, not in the mood for this.

Mimi stopped laughing but still was smiling. "Somebody's cranky!"

"Well, you'd be too if two little brats woke you up early in the morning when you were trying to get some sleep!" I retorted.

"He's grumpier than Taichi is in the morning," Koushiro whispered to Mimi, recalling our early mornings in the digital world.

I unfolded my arms and turned to leave. "Look, I came here to give you guys some things but it looks like you really don't want them."

Koushiro and Mimi immediately recovered from their laughing and nodded their heads. "What have you got for us?" Mimi asked. I set the stack of pictures down on the boy genius's desk and stepped back as Mimi's eye widened. "Wow, you really have a lot of pictures." She began looking through them and handing them to Koushiro to be scanned, every now and then making comments like, "I remember this" and "look how cute that blouse looked on Hikari!" Koushiro and I both looked at each other and sighed. We would never understand the minds of women.

He worked at scanning the pictures and Mimi brought out one more pile. She explained that Sora's mom had dropped them off to be added to the book. After about five minutes, Koushiro spoke. "This should do it! Mimi, you have the last one in your hands. Can I have it?" When Mimi didn't respond he looked over at her very confused. She was staring at one of the pictures Mrs. Takenouchi had brought, an evil genius smile plastered on her face. I looked over her shoulder at the picture. I immediately blushed and heard the other two snicker.

It had been taken about a month ago, yet I doubt Sora or I knew it had been taken. After I had been playing the guitar for about a year, Sora expressed interest in learning it. I was giving her a lesson at her place in her room. Her mom must have taken it while we were practicing.

Sora was holding my guitar and sitting on the edge of her bed. I was kneeling on the floor, her hands interlocked with mine as I arranged her fingers on the right strains and frets. Noticing the next part of the picture, my face turned, if even possible, a darker shade of red. Instead of being focused on where each note was and finger placement, our eyes were locked with each others', and our facial expressions were those of serenity and contentment.

"This would be the perfect picture for the front cover." Mimi said slyly. "I'm sure Sora definitely wouldn't mind..."

I regained my composure and cleared my throat. "If you say so, Meems." I looked at the clock on Koushiro's computer and headed toward the exit. "I'd better get going; places to go, people to see. You two behave! I'll shut the door just in case the two of you decide to continue what you were doing when I got here. See ya!" I exclaimed giving them a cheeky smile. I shut the door with one last look at their crimson faces.

I went back to my apartment to get ready for our outing this afternoon. A disposable camera, lying on the kitchen counter surrounded by dirty cooking utensils caught my eye. It might be a good idea to take this with me. You never know when you'll find a photo op. Especially when your subjects, namely annoying little siblings, a computer genius, and girly girl, aren't paying attention to the camera…

A/N: How was that? I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! The next chapter will be soon so until then please review and I'm open to any suggestions! Thanx!

Theladyknight


	6. Bad Day

What 'Love' Means to Me

By theladyknight

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, any of its characters, or the song "Bad Day" by Fuel.

A/N: Hey! Because you asked for it, here's chapter 6. It's basically all about Yama and Sora in the present. But why am I telling you about it? Go ahead, read on, and review!

**_Sorato4eva:_**_ Awww! Thank you! Keep reading to find out!_

**_Aino Yuy aka Usagi-Hater:_** _Humor, wow, ain't that funny! There's some more in this chapter as well. I'm glad you like it._

**_BlueRag:_**_ Daniel Bedingfield. I have a cd with that song on it and it just sounded like it would fit the story!_

Chapter 6: Bad Day

On Monday morning, I found myself cleaning my room like I said I would. Normally I wouldn't follow through on something like this, but unfortunately my mother had stopped by the other day and after seeing it, ordered me to clean it.

I looked around my room as I put my last dirty article of clothing in the clothes hamper. Done, now if the rest of the house could look this clean! I may as well get started on it; it's not like I have anything better to do today anyway. It seemed everyone was busy but me.

Taichi and Hikari were at a family reunion, Koushiro was at a summer school session (he was the teacher, not a student!), Mimi was shopping all day, Jyou and his family had gone on a day long fishing trip, Takeru was at a basketball camp, and Sora was most likely at home packing.

I sighed to myself; what a boring day! Picking up a garbage can and some rubber gloves, I headed out to tackle the kitchen and living room. Before I could begin to scrub the mountain of dirty dishes, I was interrupted by a knock on the door. Oh darn, guess I'll have to do this later!

I walked to the door and opened it, surprised at the sight that greeted me. "Sora! What are you doing here?"

"Can I come in?" She asked.

"Of course. What's up?" I questioned while she took off her shoes. We walked to the sofa, and I sat down, getting right back up after realizing it was littered with pop cans and fast food take out sacks. Sora laughed.

"You may wanna clean that up, Yama." She said smiling knowingly.

"I'll keep that in mind. Let's go to my room. It's the only inhabitable room in this whole place."

We walked into my room, and I gestured for her to take a seat on my bed. I sat down on my newly cleaned desk. "I'm going to take you up on that offer to chat."

I studied her closely. Something was up. "Okay. Talk to me."

She giggled again at my comment, and I gave her a quizzical face in return. "Okay Dr. Ishida. Where do I begin?"

I got up and walked over to the bed. "Lay down on the nice comfortable bed and tell Dr. Ishida everything." I answered, smirking and sitting down next to her. "Dr. Ishida is the best person to come to if you need to talk. He can solve any problem." I bragged.

Sora rolled her eyes and asked. "I feel so honored." She looked at me and closed her eyes.

"What problems or issues would you like to tell Dr. Ishida?" I asked.

"Other than the fact I have one very egotistical friend?" She asked innocently. I glared at her before she continued. "But I guess that's not a major issue right now. You see, my real problem, is the fact that my mother has banned me from the house today because every time she tried to pack something, I would take it out and tell her about some memory of it!" Sora exclaimed. "We weren't getting much packing done so Mom asked me to find a friend to hang out with for a while."

"How's everyone taking it? The whole moving issue, I mean?"

"Dad's adjusted to it completely, I think. The people at the university were sad to see him go but gave him these big parties and lots of gifts. They just added to the already large amount we have to pack. Mom's used to the idea, but she's been driving me crazy lately. She's so stressed out about packing and getting everything there. I never want to be around her anymore because it seems like she's going to burst at any moment!"

I looked at her, red eyes cold and almost distant. "But what about you? You are the one this doctor is most concerned about."

Sora's hard eyes melted at once into the usual ruby pools I adored. "Truthfully?"

"Truthfully," I nodded back solemnly.

She stuck out her pinkie. "Swear you won't tell anyone?"

"I never will," I responded, locking my pinkie with hers.

"It's guess it's like this. Odaiba is the only place I've ever known. Everything I know and love is here. Everything I keep close to my heart, everything I cherish, and everything I'll miss. The rest of my family is here, my childhood memories are here, and my only ties to Piyomon are here…" She trailed off, getting a little misty in her eyes.

"Sor, the rest of understand what you're going through. You don't need to bottle it up and hide it from us."

"But that's just it!" She exclaimed suddenly standing up. "None of you know how I'm feeling. You've never had to move to another country because your father got a better job. You've never had to leave everything you know behind. You…you just wouldn't understand."

I pulled her back down onto the bed so she was sitting next to me. Grabbing her arm, I made he face me. "We don't need to experience any of that to know what you're going through, Sora. We've all had occurrences similar to this in our own lives. Hell, Takeru and I were separated when we were kids, and the first time we saw each other since then was in the digital world." Sora looked down at her shoes guiltily. Cupping her face, I moved it up so she once again looked me in the eye. "What I'm trying to say is that we are all here for you, each and every one of us. We're here to listen, to laugh together, cry together, and grow together. The eight of us have been through so much as a team and as best friends. We're not going to throw that away because you have to move."

"But what if I never hear from you again?" she asked, resting her head on my shoulder.

I grinned my million-dollar smile. "You're friends with Mimi, Taichi, and me; believe me, you'll here from us quite a lot, probably so much that you'll be sick of us."

She giggled, and I knew she'd be all right. "Without you guys, these last few weeks would have been pure, utter hell. I don't know how I would have gotten through."

"You can always count on us." I answered reassuringly.

"I know, it's just…. for the past three days, I've woken up thinking what great days these were going to be. It's summertime, there's no school, I get to see you all everyday; what more could I ask for? Then I remember I've got one week left to feel all these things. I wake up thinking each day will be a great terrific day, but then realize its really just another bad day, and the next day will be the same and so on."

"We're not going to let you have a bad day." I said looking at her again, a smile forming on my face. "Well, my dear," I added in a mock accent leaning toward her, "I have just the remedy for your problem."

Sora sat up and grinned and the gap between our bodies became much smaller. "What would that be? Candy, presents, money, I'm open to any of it." Our bodies were nearly touching and our faces were getting closer by the second.

We flirted like this occasionally. It didn't seem too odd, particualarly for our age. It was just the way it was. We liked teasing each other and pretending there was something more, or in my case, hoping there could be something more.

Her face leaned up to meet mine, and I could feel her warm breath on my face. We've never done anything like this before, though.

I don't know how she feels about me, and she doesn't know what I feel about her, but now it is a time to take a chance, a risk for love. Closer, closer our lips moved in and were about to touch. I closed my eyes, readily awaiting the taste of her lips. My lips were about to meet hers. Here goes…

"RING RING! RING RING!" the phone went off. Sora and I pulled away before the heavenly kiss could begin, both blushing rather heavily.

Damn it! We were so close to kissing. Wait a minute, if she was going to kiss me then does that mean she feels the same way about me as I feel about her? I knew I had to be grinning like an idiot, and I didn't want Sora to see. Grabbing the phone, I answered it, still depressed that what would have happened didn't get a chance to. "Hello?"

"Oh Yamato!" a voice exclaimed, "It's Mrs. Takenouchi. Is Sora there by chance? I told her to go off somewhere for a while because packing wasn't going to well with her around." I glanced at Sora out of the corner of my eye. She stood up but appeared a little flustered.

"Yeah, she's here." I responded mouthing to Sora it was her mom.

"Could you tell her she can come back here if she wants to. Unless of course I'm interrupting anything…" she trailed off. Yes you WERE interrupting something! I had to hold my tongue from chewing her out. "Did you two have plans or something?" she asked curiously.

"Actually I was wondering if Sora could spend the rest of the day with me, ma'am." I responded, thinking quickly. This was the remedy I was going to suggest to Sora. May as well get permission from her mother. Sora looked at me quizzically, but then a large smile grew on her face.

"That would be great, Yamato! You all have been so supportive of our move and trying to make Sora's last few days special. Of course she can! Just have her home by eleven!" she answered cheerfully. Eleven! That means. I mentally added up the hours (A/N it's 11:00 am right now).Twelve hours all alone with Sora!

"Um, Yamato, are you still there?" She asked. I realized I'd been silent for about a minute, lost in my thoughts.

"Yeah, sorry about that. We'll have a lot of fun today. Talk to you later Mrs. Takenouchi and hope you get the packing done."

I could here her sigh on the other end. "Thanks, Yamato. You're a good boy. Bye!" She hung up the phone, and Sora began questioning me.

"She said yes I take it." I nodded, grinning at her cockily. "Is this my remedy? A day with you?"

"How'd you guess?" I asked. She rolled her eyes, and I put on a hurt expression. "You should be happy. I'm paying for everything today!" I exclaimed, picking up my wallet from the dresser.

Her eyes lit up. "Well maybe I'll reconsider now…" giving me a sly smirk. "Okay! What are our plans for today, Dr. Ishida?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out. Let's just say we'll have plenty to do between now and eleven tonight."

Her eyes widened. "Eleven! I like the sound of that. What first?"

I got up and offered her my hand. "We're going to Inoue's store to buy some stuff and pick out a movie. I'm cooking us lunch here and we can watch the movie when we're done. Let's go now. Depending on what you pick out to eat, I may need a long time to prepare it." I was ready to leave when Sora started giggling and nearly fell on the floor.

"What?" I asked, tying to figure out what was wrong.

"You may want to take that off before we go, Yama." She laughed, pointing at what I was wearing. I blushed, realizing I still had the frilly pink apron we used when one of us cleaned up the house. It was in good shape considering we hardly ever cleaned the house! I took off the apron, and we made our way to the store.

We walked over laughing and talking and both apologizing for the near kiss. "I just got a little caught up in the doctor mode." I lied. "You know the old saying, a kiss'll make it all better."

"Are you sure you weren't just trying to woo me in, playing the charming doctor?" She teased.

I stuck out my chest boastfully. "Well, dear, was it working?"

Sora stuck out her tongue, and I responsed in the same fashion. "I know what you mean. I got caught up in the whole thing too..." She trailed offf whistfully,though I could've sworn she looked a little disappointed. I sure was. God, Ishida! You and the stubborn hardhead or yours. You're never going to get up the guts to tell her how you feel!

We reached the store and Sora decided pizza was what we needed. Homemade pizza. At the movie counter she picked out _Pirates of the Caribbean _(A/N I don't own the movie, but I sure do love it!)

Sora and I stood in the checkout line after picking up all the necessary ingredients for making an extra cheese pizza. There were two other people in front of us in line. One was a young boy, probably only around nine or ten. The clerk, I'd seen her before; I think her name is Miyako. She's one of the Inoue kids. Miyako was talking to the boy. "Iori, let me guess, your grandfather needs some prune juice."

"How did you know?" He asked grinning.

"I'm psychic." She replied knowingly, handing him a twelve pack of prune juice. "Here you go. That'll be two seventy-five." Miyako said.

Sora leaned over to me and whispered in my ear, "I know you can buy beer in twelve packs but prune juice? Now I've seen it all!" We both began laughing, and the rather large woman in front of us turned around. We both gulped when we saw her face.

"Yamato, Sora," she said in reproachful tone.

"Hello Mrs. Wong," we both said in unison, bowing courteously. Mrs. Wong was our science teacher last year. She kind of didn't like us, to put it bluntly. You see Sora and I kind of destroyed the science lab. But it was an accident, I swear.

"Excuse me, ma'am, you're next." Miyako said, saving the day, as Mrs. Wong was about to talk to us. She turned, giving us a glare and turning to check out. When she had stepped away, Sora and I both let out the breath we had been holding in. "Can I help you?" Miyako asked.

We handed her our things, and she began ringing them up, humming lightly to herself. "Is this all? That'll be thirteen fourteen." She said, sacking up everything. "And the movie is due back in one week." I paid her, and Sora and I left.

The minute the door had shut Sora began talking. "Did you see Mrs. Wong's face when she saw us? I thought she would blow!"

"You're telling me. I didn't realize she would carry her grudge against us for so long." Sora nodded in agreement.

"Well, blowing up the science lab was really your fault, not mine, so she really shouldn't have been mad at me."

"My fault! You added hydrochloric acid to our beaker!" I exclaimed.

"But then you added some zinc pieces, sulfiric acid, and sugar, mixed it up, and told us to run!" She countered. Damn, I was stuck.

"Fine, maybe it was my fault, but you sure as hell had something to do with it!" She smiled sweetly at me, and we both began laughing once again.

The rest of the afternoon passed like a breeze. The homemade pizza turned out fantastic, but then again I did make it. We had each seen _Pirates of the Caribbean _many times before but it never got boring.

We went to the park after cleaning up and walked around, looking at everything more closely than we had ever done before. And it the park I saw someone who would be the very bane of my existence the first day of high school through the end of it, Jun Motomiya.

Sora and I were swinging when two figures, both with very large amounts of hair, ran by us. One was a boy and the other was a girl. The girl was chasing the boy. "Is that Taichi?" I asked. "And if it is, is that like his cousin or something." Then the thought hit me. "Or is it Hikari with him? I know she admires her brother, but did she crack and decide to grow her hair out like his? Oh, Takeru's gonna die when he sees it!" I exclaimed fearfully. Sora took that chance to clamp her hand over my mouth. I could tell she was trying very hard not to laugh.

"Baka!" she exclaimed. "That girl is Jun Motomiya. She's a year older than us. And that boy is her brother, Daisuke. He's Keru and Hika's age I think."

"I hope I never see her again!" I muttered. Sora laughed and we decided to leave because these two siblings were causing a lot of noise and mayhem in the park. From there, we walked around, visiting all of Sora's favorite places, my wallet considerably lighter around seven o'clock that night.

We had decided to eat supper tonight at Mazurka's, Sora's favorite restaurant. It was very hard to get into, but I had a feeling my charm would win us a table.

"Reservations?" asked the brunette waitress. She looked around seventeen. Time to put the charm in motion. I smiled my million-dollar smile at her. She blushed and dropped the menus she was holding.

Here goes. "You see, miss, my girlfriend and I," Sora and I caught eyes and looked away quickly, "are celebrating our three month anniversary. We came here for our first date and we were planning on coming here to celebrate tonight. But everything just went downhill. I woke up this morning and found out my little brother's appendix had burst, and he had to go to the hospital. My car broke down on the side of the road, and her dog died." I said pointing at Sora.

Sora, who was near a fit of laughter, put on a serious expression as the waitress looked at her. "It's true miss, we've had such a bad day. I broke a nail," she said indicating her to her left hand, "and this morning I spilt coffee all over my brand new purse. Is there anyway you could get us a table?" She asked. I put on my best pair of puppy dog eyes. The waitress began to get teary-eyed.

"I'll do my best. I'll be right back." She said sniffling. Sora and I caught each other's eyes once again and snickered.

I leaned down so her ear was next to my lips. "I cannot believe she bought that!" I whispered, my lips grazing her ear. Sora turned to face me, her face a little darker.

"I know. But what's this whole business of us being an item? Couldn't you think of something a little more original? Long-lost siblings, new girl in town…something out of the ordinary."

"C'mon, we just have to act like a couple while we're here." I whispered. "Then we can go back to being Yama and Sora. Okay?"

She didn't get a chance to answer because the waitress had returned, and she was still misty eyed. "You two are so cute together. I can see why you are a couple." That shocked both Sora and me.

"What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"The way you whisper in each others ear and then blush about it and the way you always look into each others eyes when you talk. It's so cute!" Sora and I turned away from each other. We act like that? "Anywhoo, I managed to get you two lovebirds a table up on the top floor. Follow me please." I was about to take off when Sora grabbed my hand. Keep up the act, she mouthed. I grinned and squeezed her hand.

We followed our waitress up to the top floor and into a secluded room. I heard Sora gasp next to me. There were candles all over the place, a crystal chandelier set on sepia tone, and one fantastic view of the city. I was impressed. Thinking quickly, I pulled out Sora's chair and gestured for her to sit. I then took my seat across from Sora as the girl gave us our menus. Sora and I both ordered the specials the girl told us about, not bothering to look at anything in the menu.

We made idle chit chat while the food came and when it did come, words cannot even begin to describe how good it was. Our waitress returned with the bill, and I got my wallet out to pay her using all but five dollars. Man, I need to get a job. Sora caught my attention, and I noticed the waitress was standing there waiting for her tip. I pulled out my wallet once again and gave her the rest of my money, resisting the urge to groan. She grinned, and I extended my hand to Sora, pulling her close to me. Then she did something unexpected.

"You're the best, Yama," she whispered, kissing my cheek lightly. Heaven, I'm in heaven!

I assumed she was just putting on an act for the girl so I decided to play along. "Anytime, angel," I responded brushing my lips up against her temple. The waitress finally lost it. She ran out crying and telling us to have a good day, also muttering something about young love. She was a weird one. I realized Sora and I were staring into each other's eyes. I cleared my throat, and we both looked away. Glancing at my watch, I realized we had better get going in order to get to the last part of my surprise for her on time. "We've gotta jet." I announced.

"Whatever you say, Dr. Ishida." She answered. I led her down the stairs, past our hysterical waitress and out the door. "You know, I'm surprised they actually believed us considering we're not exactly dressed up enough for that place."

"Hey, I told you we'd get in." I answered.

She smiled and leaned up against me. "I never doubted you, Yama." We walked in a comfortable silence to the final place on the agenda. "Here we are." I said. Sora took her head, which had somehow found my shoulder, off its resting place.

"Old Man Tokuhira's. What's here?" Old Man Tokuhira was one of the richest men in Odaiba and lived in a huge mansion on the outskirts of town.

I smiled down at her. "I just happened to hear his little girl is turning eighteen today, and they are putting on one very expensive and very exciting fireworks display tonight in about twenty minutes."

"How are we going to get in?" Sora asked. "Not just anybody is invited."

"Taichi and I found a secret way in one day."

"Where was I?" she asked indignantly.

I smirked. "Probably still grounded for the whole science experiment…"

"Whatever. Let's just go." I led her through the little hole in the fence Taichi and I had found. We climbed through and settled ourselves on a hill where no one would notice us.

We were silent for a while and then Sora began to talk. "Yama, do you think we'll ever see our Digimon again. They all seemed so positive we would."

"I think there's a pretty good chance, Sor." I answered. "Gennai will make it happen or something like that. I think it is very likely." A boom sounded, and the fireworks began. Sora sat straight up, but I pulled her down. "Don't you know the only way to watch fireworks is by lying down?" She lay down next to me, resting her head on my chest. The amazing display of fireworks went on for another hour and a half. Everyone was clapping and cheering as the last one went off.

Sora and I stood up and left. My watch told me I had a half an hour to get her home. We walked the fifteen-minute walk to her apartment and finally approached with time to spare. "You turned a bad day into one of the best days of my life, Yama," She said wrapping her arms around me and giving me a big hug. "Thank you,"

"Of course," I answered. "So I'll see you at Mimi's on Wednesday, right?"

"Of course," She mimicked. Mimi was throwing a goodbye party yet Sora didn't know about it. She just assumed we were going to have movie night. "Well I better get in, plenty of packing to do tomorrow. Goodnight."

"Night, Sor," I answered, watching her open the door and ascend the staircase to her apartment.

Standing there watching her only made me surer of what I was planning on doing at the party. I can't wait any longer; I've gotta tell her I think that I may possibly be falling in love with her.

A/N: This took such a long time to write and type but I think it turned out okay. The question is what'd y'all think? Good? Bad? Ugly? Beautiful? Let me know and expect the next chapter to be up soon. I posted this a day earlier than planned on cuz I had it done and tomorrow I have to go to my niece's birthday party and I won't have much time. So hopefully I'll come back alive from it, she turns six, and I'll be able to get you all another chapter! Please review and thanks to all of you who do!


	7. Why Don't You and I

What 'Love' Means to Me

Bytheladyknight

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, any of its characters, or the song "Why Don't You and I" by Santana featuring Chad Kroeger.

A/N: I HATE my freaking computer! I had a good chunk of chapter 7 done and suddenly it lost it! So here's chapter seven, a little different then the first version I wrote, and Yama and Tai's comical shopping trip, the goodbye party, and Yama's attempts of saying three little words...Enjoy and R/R!

**_Yama-sama:_**_ Chapters 2-5 dealt with Yama trying to figure out through his memories of her, if he does love Sora or not. He figured out he does and now is trying to tell her. Chapters 2-5 were in flashback mode; with the narration being real time but chapter 6 on up are in real time happening in the present, if that makes any sense. Thanks for the review and I hope you update Angels, Friends, Love and the War of the Worlds soon. I LOVE it!_

**_Sorato4eva: _**_He's gonna try…_

**_Peachgirl1608:_**_ Thanks for the review!_

Chapter 7: Why Don't You and I

I somehow made it back to my apartment feeling like I was walking on air the whole way. I had made Sora's day perfect. Me! Maybe she feels the same way about me as I do about her!

Thoughts of how fantastic our day had been, especially the part when she kissed me, danced in my head, and before I knew it, I was asleep in my bed.

My alarm rang at 7:30 waking me up. Today the others and I were meeting at Mimi's place to get everything ready for Sora's goodbye party. We still had a day before the party, but Mimi had a BIG house, and there was a lot to be done. I climbed into the shower singing, the events of yesterday still fresh in my mind. I was in a great mood.

When my shower was finished, I climbed out, dried myself off, and got dressed, gelled my hair and looked at the clock, realizing it was time to go.

Taichi's mom had volunteered to give the two of us a ride over to Mimi's house. It was a good thing too. Mimi, who was the leader of this project, assigned each of us to bring something different for the party. My job was to bring ice. Lots of ice. Taichi was assigned cups. Lots of cups. We had planned on going and buying the things before we left for Mimi's this morning.

I arrived at Taichi's house only to be greeted at the door by his mother. "He's not up yet," she said shaking her head. "He's really lucky Hikari's not here, or she would really let him have it."

"Where's she at?" I wondered.

"Already at Mimi's. She called shortly after we got home last night and asked if Hikari could spend the night so the two of them could get started right away on last minute party plans."

"I see." I answered.

Mrs. Yagami ushered me in and told me to take a seat on the sofa while she attempted to wake her son up. Muttering something about him being able to sleep through anything, she knocked on the door three times, before recklessly walking in and shouting at him. I covered my ears. It's obvious to see where he got his loud voice.

I heard the sound of running water, and Taichi appeared five minutes later yawning.

"Hey Yama." He said through a couple yawns.

"Early morning or late night?" I asked, cheekily. I really must be in a good mood if I feel like antagonizing Taichi when he's grumpy.

When he was sure his mother wasn't watching, he flicked me off. He really is quite a morning person. Taichi grabbed some breakfast bar, got money from his mother, and we headed out to Inoue's convenience store to buy our ice and cups.

Miyako was working in there once again. "Hi!" she exclaimed ecstatically. "Can I help you two with anything?"

Seeing as Taichi was still not fully awake, I took over. "We need ice and cups. Lots of ice and cups." I repeated with much emphasis.

"Just how much is a lot?" Miyako asked curiously.

I looked at Taichi. "How much ARE we supposed to get?"

He shrugged. "Don't know. Mimi never really specified. How much money do you have?"

I fished through my pocket, amazed I still had money left after last night. "Fifteen bucks."

"Mom gave me twenty." He took our money and handed it to Miyako. "Whatever thirty five bucks can buy." She looked at us like she had never seen us before.

"Okay…" she began slowly. "What kind of cups would you like?"

"You mean there's more than one type of cup?" I asked bemused.

Miyako sighed. "There are the plastic cups, Styrofoam, clear, opaque, neon, red, blue, green, large, small…" Miyako continued naming all the cup types they had in stock.

Taichi leaned over and whispered in my ear. "Isn't a cup a cup? All these descriptions are making me feel like we're clothes and shoe shopping with Mimi and Hikari!" I laughed.

"What do you have for ice?" I interrupted, not wanting to hear what other types of cups the Inoue's had.

Miyako looked at me. "Well, we have ice cubes, ice hunks, ice pellets, shaved ice, crushed ice…" Taichi and I looked at each other and rolled our eyes. How many freaking types of ice are there! Mimi gave Taichi andme the easiest things to shop for and yet here we are, up to our ears in ice and cups.

She was still rambling about ice, and I knew I would go crazy if I heard another word about it. "We'll take an assortment of both the ice and cups!" I exclaimed after looking at my watch and realizing we were already late.

Miyako gave us an odd look but nonetheless got out from behind the counter and started stacking cups and ice. Soon the only things we could see were the silver glimmers coming for the ice and a mountain of colors coming from the cups. Finally Miyako returned to the counter and took our money. "That looks like about thirty five dollars worth," she said breathlessly.

Taichi and I thanked her and had one fun time bringing everything back to his place. (A/N: Anyone remember the _Friends_ episode when they're throwing a party for Rachel and Phoebe is in charge of the cups and ice…) "Hopefully this'll do." Taichi said as his mother opened the door to see the two of us weighed down with bags.

"Do I get any change?" She asked as we set the last of our bags down.

Taichi rubbed the back of his head. "Um, you expected change?" His mother sighed and again muttered something under her breath, which sounded a little like "I need a vacation."

We loaded the ice into the four coolers the Yagamis and I owned that I'd brought over a few days before. Taichi and I, always known for arriving fashionably late, pulled into Mimi's huge mansion at 9:00, half an hour late.

We were greeted by an angry mob of people, with one pink-haired girl leading the way. "What took you two so long!" She exclaimed. "You are late, just like always!"

"He overslept." I said, pointing to my best friend.

"Yagami Taichi!" Mimi roared. I snickered. Boy was he in for it. Jyou, Koushiro, Takeru, and Hikari had never been on the other end of one of Mimi's rants andall had their mouths hanging to the ground. They'd never seen Mimi like this. Me on the other hand; well, let's just say I've been in Taichi's spot before. I borrowed a cd of hers once and in addition to using the case and a drink holder, kind of scratched it, making her favorite song skip. It was an accident, I swear, but I got my ear chewed off badly for a whole week!

"You would rather sleep in then help prepare a goodbye party for one of your two best friends? You have known Sora longer than the rest of us yet you value your own naptime more than her friendship! Wait till I tell her!" Mimi didn't get the crest of sincerity for nothing…

Taichi gave her one of his famous lopsided grins. "Well, Meems, if it's any consolation, we got the cups and ice just like you asked us to!"

Mimi and the others looked down at the large bulks we had brought. Hikari and Takeru began to laugh. "Did you buy everything the store had?"

"We only spent thirty five bucks on it." I said sheepishly. The minute I let that out, I realized it was a mistake to mention.

"Thirty five bucks!" Mimi exclaimed.

"You've obviously never been shopping for these things!" Taichi put in. "Do you know how many varieties they come in? And you never told us how much we needed to buy!"

Koushiro shook his head. "How imprudent, incoherent, and farcical!"

"What!" I responded. I had absolutely no idea what he had just said.

Jyou took over. "He means you two are stupid! Why didn't you just pick some and get here!"

Takeru, being the voice of reason, finally stepped in, though I could tell he was enjoying our argument. "How about we just get started with our jobs!"

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Hikari responded, pulling a list out of her pocket. "Okay, here's the game plan. Jyou, you are going to be on the riding lawn mower, mowing the yard. When you've finished that, you'll need to trim the bushes and trees. Koushiro, you are in charge of wiring the sound system and hanging all the lights, all of this on the patio. You'll be in charge of making the decorations and getting the tablecloths and table settings ready, Takeru. And you two," she said, pointing to her brother and me, "are going to be carrying everything to the places the things need to go."

"What are you and Mimi going to do while we are doing all this?" Taichi asked.

Mimi and Hikari beamed at each other. "Supervising!" We soon realized they weren't supervisors. They were slave drivers!

By the end of the day, we the guys realized how much we hated the word supervising. To the two girls, supervising meant sitting in lawn chairs, drinking lemonade, and comparing what their outfits for the party while we all did backbreaking slave labor in the hot sun!

I guess only Taichi and I were doing the actual slave labor. It seemed Hikari and Mimi had given the other three boys easier tasks. Jyou looked quite peaceful on the mower, Koushiro was right at home working on the sound system, and Takeru was making a banner for Sora. Meanwhile Taichi and I were stuck lugging heavy boxes up and down stairs all day. And by the afternoon, these boxes had gotten much heavier.

I arrived home and nearly collapsed in my bed. One way or another, I managed to find the shower and for the second time that day, let the warm water drench my worn out body. Only this time, I could feel the water stinging every ache and pain in my body. There is no way I'm going to be able to get to sleep tonight. I thought back to why I was forced to be a slave all day but soon remembered the ruby-haired girl. It was for Sora. I could force myself to do backbreaking labor for her any day if it meant her last day here would be one she'd never forget.

Surprisingly, I did manage to get to sleep. I woke up the next morning to the ringing phone deciding to let the answering machine take it. If it was someone important, I'd call them back. But if the world could go on without me making a call, I would definitely go back to bed. I could feel every ache and pain from the previous day in my body as I listened to the machine pick up.

"Hello, Yamato. This isOkina Makino. I'm calling to let you know I was able to reserve the recording studio for you this afternoon from twelve o'clock noon till three p.m. If you have any questions, feel free to call me back, otherwise I will see you there. Bye!" The machine beeped, signaling the call was over and I leaped out of bed. That definitely was an important call.

Ms. Okina is the TV executive I was talking to a few weeks ago. She had called back last Friday, informing me the band would get some sort of live televised show sometime in the near distant future. Ms. Okina also expressed interest in listening to the guys andme or just me by myself actually going into the recording studio and putting together a few pieces. Because she was so high up in the entertainment industry, she had some close friends in the music business.

I decided to take her up on her offer. I had called her back almost immediately after she gave me the initial message and asked a favor. Pleading my case yet again, I told her I had a friend who was moving away, and I wanted to record a few songs and put them on a cd for her.Makino immediately opened up to the idea and told me she'd she what she could do.

Since I phoned her, I had been patiently waiting, hoping and praying I'd be able to get a time at the studio before Sora had to leave. This was going to be my present to her. I wanted my gift to be special and from the heart, showing Sora how much she means to me.

The only problem with this little plan of mine was that I had chosen almost twenty songs and found the guitar music to go along with them. I would only have three hours in the studio, and I sure as hell bet that I wouldn't be able to get them all done. In order to get more details and maybe some advise on how many songs I would be able to do, I called Ms. Okina back.

She was really nice about it, explaining I would most likely be able to get three songs done per hour, which meant I'd probably be able to do a total of nine songs.

Choosing which ones I wanted was a very hard decision. Each song held a different meaning, with a powerful hidden message in their wonderful lyrics. I had to make the perfect choice, and finally I came up with nine songs I believed were the right ones.

I opened my guitar case and dug through it, finding the music to the nine selected songs. I had been practicing all twenty of them in what little free time I had, and luckily the nine songs didn't contain difficult guitar instrumentals. I sat down at my desk and decided to practice until it was time to go. The time flew by, and before I knew it, I was walking out the door to the studio. Hopefully it all goes well!

Three long hours later, I walked out of the studio grinning, guitar in one hand and freshly made compact disc in the other. (A/N: Sorry, I skip a lot in this chapter!) My recording session had been a huge success. Ms. Okina gave me nothing but good compliments and hinted something about sending some friends of hers to our first really big concert. I was ecstatic. The songs all turned out fantastic. I figured it probably came to be that way because I was singing from my heart with one subject in mind the whole time. Ms. Okina commented about that too. Something like she'd bet the girl who received this cd would be in love with it from the very first track.

I was planning on giving Sora the cd tomorrow before her flight left. There were a few last minute touches I had to add and a letter I needed to write to her. Realizing I still had two hours before the party, working on the letter was my first priority.

Writing the letter was harder than I thought. Putting feelings into words isn't always the easiest thing, but I have always been blessed with the ability to do so. Maybe that's one of the reason I have begun writing songs of my own for the band to use. Who knows. Finally, after an hour of working, I signed my name at the bottom. There, finished.

One hour was just enough time for me to get ready. I jumped in the shower, contemplating my attire for the party. Usually I would go with my normal ensemble, black shirt, black pants but tonight was supposed to be festive. Tomorrow would be the dreary day. After washing and rinsing my hair, I got out and dried off, heading to my closet.

My mother bought me a pair of khaki pants for Christmas, yet I had never worn them. They left me with what I thought would be an easy choice for shirts, so I decided to give them a go. They fit fine and looked decent but finding a shirt was another matter! I looked through the closet, holding shirts up to me and then throwing them onto the ground. Soon my floor was littered with a pile of shirts. Guess I'm gonna have to clean again. I was nearing the end of my shirt selections. Truthfully, there was nothing wrong with any of the shirts on the ground. They just didn't fit the look I was going for tonight.

Finally something caught my eye. It was a baby blue shirt with a collar that was calling my name. This shirt would be perfect for tonight. I pulled it over my head and began the task of gelling my hair and adding some cologne. Fifteen minutes later and quite content with the way I looked, I stepped out of the bathroom and into the living room.

"Dad, are you ready to go?" I called. After Taichi and I had gone on our little cup and ice escape, we were informed the party wasn't going to be as big as we thought. In addition to the digidestined, our families, friends of the Takenouchis, Sora's tennis teammates, and a few others were invited.

"Give me a minute, sport!" He yelled from his room. I tapped my foot impatiently. We still had fifteen minutes to get to Mimi's mansion. My father came out of his room and we set off.

We pulled up to Mimi's greeted by the butler. Must be nice to be rich like that. "Hello, everyone is out on the patio."

"Thanks." I answered as my father and I made our way down. I don't know if I'll ever be able to describe how awesome the patio was decorated. Wow is about the only thing that comes to mind. I spotted Taichi, Koushiro, and the others all standing by the sound system. "See you later!" I exclaimed as my father went his separate way to talk to the Yagamis.

"Hey Yamato!" Jyou exclaimed as I walked over to my group of friends.

"Hey guys." I responded. "Looks like all our hard work paid off."

Taichi got very pissed off. "Yeah the hard work we the GUYS did. You two," he said pointing to Hikari and Mimi, "did n-o-t-h-i-n-g!"

"Taichi why didn't you tell us you passed spelling!" Koushiro exclaimed. We all burst out laughing. It wasn't often the boy genius chose to participate in our jarring matches, but when he did, he could be pretty dangerous.

"Funny," Taichi sneered.

Hikari put her hands on her hips and faced her brother. "Onii-chan, we did the most important part. We made the cake. That definitely wasn't a job for any of you!" 

We all rolled our eyes. I know for a fact that it's not hard to bake a cake, but I could see where the girls were coming from. The other four guys would not be ones I'd want to do my catering. "Miss Mimi," a voice interrupted.

"Oh hello Larry," she answered looking at the speaker. It was the butler I'd seen before. "The Takenouchis have arrived."

"Thank you. Keep them in the foyer, I'll be right up. Okay, everyone! Attention please! Would you all stop talking!" Mimi tried in vain to get everyone's attention.

"QUIET!" Taichi yelled. He turned red as every voice stopped in the middle of its conversation to the look at the bushy-haired teen. We all snickered as he held his hands up. "Uh, thanks!"

Mimi took over, much to Taichi's relief. "Okay everyone, Sora and her family have just gotten here. We need everyone to hide. Koushiro," she turned to face us, "unplug the lights! When I give you the signal, plug them back in." Koushiro nodded, and suddenly the patio became dark. All around me I could hear the whispers of people trying to figure out who was next to them.

"Ouch! Get off my foot!" Hikari muttered.

"Sorry!" My little brother responded.

"Taichi, don't step over there!" Jyou murmured. "You'll run into the stereo!"

"No I won't!" He answered indignantly. "Ouch!" We all snickered as we heard a bump. "Damn, that's gonna leave a mark."

I turned to face them all. Well, at least I think I'm facing them. "Quiet!" I hissed, "You don't want them to hear you."

We heard Mimi's voice, now causing everyone to finally shut up. "My mom and dad wanted me to show you guys this. Don't you think it's neat?" Mimi asked. I could sense Koushiro getting ready to plug the lights back in. There was a spark and suddenly the patio was illuminated once again. "Surprise!" everyone in the premise yelled.

Standing in front of us was a very flabbergasted Takenouchi family. Everyone was silent for a minute before Sora let out a squeal and ran to us. "Oh my God! You guys are the best friends ever!" She wrapped Hikari in a hug joined one by one by the rest of the chosen children. "I can't believe you did this for me!"

The rest of the people in attendance had stopped watching us and began to mingle again. Our group hug ended and Sora made her way to greet each of us individually. I was at the end of the line, waiting nervously for her to come talk to me. Finally, after giving my little bro a big bear hug, she approached me.

"Yama!" she whispered wrapping her arms around my neck. "Oh, I don't know how I would have made it through the past three weeks without you. I'm going to miss you so much more than you imagine." She finished. I looked down into her ruby orbs quizzically as she bit her lip. Did that mean something…This is the moment I've been waiting for. Here I go…

"Sora…I think I...lo…"

"Sora! Stop hogging her Yamato! Let the rest of us talk to her." Her tennis teammates walked over to us, pulling Sora along with them.

Sora looked at me apologetically. "Save me a dance?" She asked as they drug her over to a corner.

"Of course." I responded smiling though what I really wanted to do was scream. Why! I had half the word out and boom, someone interrupts us!

"Problems, brother dear." A voice asked.

I groaned. "Leave me alone, Takeru."

"Oh, is Yama grumpy today? I wonder why. Spill, lover boy!"

I looked at him sharply making sure no one else had heard. When I was positive, I forced him over next to the stereo. "What are you talking about."

"I saw the way you were looking at Sora, heck I saw the way you always look at Sora. You're in LOVE!" he exclaimed in a singsong voice.

Though I attempted to deny it, I have one very unfortunate blushing problem that always seems to come through at the wrong times. Takeru laughed triumphantly, and I scowled. "Fine. I like Sora a lot. Hell, I think I may evenlove Sora. Are you happy?"

He paused as if thinking. "Yes! So when are you going to tell her, lover boy?" he asked stretching the last two words.

"I was trying to a few minutes ago, but then her tennis buddies had to come and steal her away."

Takeru shook his head. "Yamato, I'm going to give you some advice: TELL that girl you love her before she leaves."

"It's not as easy as it sounds."

"It's three little words! Yama you can do it."

"But what…"

"No buts. Just do it!" Takeru encouraged. It was there I realized how wise my younger brother was beyond his years. "Thanks, Keru. I think I will. And you may want to take your own advice and talk to Hikari."

I walked off before he could say anything. Mimi's voice rang out, "Okay everyone, there is cake, ice cream, and drinks in the kitchen. We'd like to invite everyone in to enjoy it and the music'll be playing out here in the meantime! Make yourselves right at home!" she stopped talking and beamed at everyone before remembering something else. "I almost forgot, there are disposable cameras all around the place. We want you to take pictures and at the end of the night the cameras will all go to the Takenouchis. My friends and I have collected some money for them to get the cameras developed in New York, and they'll have memories of this party."

There was a chorus of awes and sighs from the crowd as Sora ran up to Mimi and gave her a hug. The crowd then split, the majority heading into the kitchen while a few remained out on the patio. I found myself drifting into the kitchen. It was a packed house, and I bumped into someone almost immediately.

"Sorry." I said quickly.

"I never thought I'd find anyone in this crowd." Sora answered. We both made our way to the cake. It looked as though Hikari and Mimi really did put a lot of time and effort onto it. On the front was a picture of Sora, her mom, dad, and a blurry background of Garudamon. The cake was two flavors, chocolate and white. Sora picked chocolate, and I picked white. We each picked up a soda and went out to the patio to eat.

We ate in silence, every once in awhile commenting about the people here or there. "How's the cake?" I asked.

"Pretty good." She answered. "Though yours does look pretty good too. I'm starting to wish I'd grabbed a piece of white."

"Here." I answered taking my fork and putting a piece on it. I reached it over to Sora's mouth. "Open up." She raised her eyebrows but opened her mouth regardless. I stuck the cake in and pulled out the fork. She smiled at me.

"Not bad."

"What, the cake or the service?" I smirked.

"Both." She responded. Here was my chance.

"Sora. I need to tell you something."

"What is it Yama?"

"I l…"

"Sora! Yamato!" What is everyone's problem! Why do they always choose the wrong moment to interrupt?

"Hey guys!" Sora answered. I forced a smile but still glared at them. Takeru saw this and I knew he was mentally hitting himself on the head. He mouthed the words sorry. The others sat down bearing their own cake. Our group of eight reminisced about our favorite memories and took a picture with one of the disposable cameras.

I spent the rest of the night dancing and talking with friends, looking for a free minute to tell Sora what my heart needed to say. Don't get me wrong, I danced with her plenty of times throughout the night, but it's kind of hard to tell the girl you love you love her when rock music is cranked as loud as it can go, and you have to scream to be heard. Then the song "Here Without You" by 3 Doors Down (A/N: I don't own it!) came on. Finally it looked as though the rocky waters were passing, and I would have smooth sailing in my quest to tell Sora I love her.

"Do you want to dance?" I whispered down to her. We were currently sitting at a table with Takeru and Hikari.

"I'd love to," she answered, taking my hand and walking out to the middle of the patio. As the music started, she placed her arms around my neck and rested her head on my shoulder.

"Did you get all the packing done?" I asked, making light conversation.

"Yeah, we finished late this morning. The apartment looks so empty and barren. It's almost too much at some times."

"I understand. What time does the plane leave tomorrow?" I asked.

She sighed and buried her head into my shoulder. "Seven a.m."

"We'll all be there for you."

"I know. Thank you." Okay, I couldn't wait any longer. I was going to do it this time. There would be no interruptions. I made the small talk so it wouldn't seem so weird, me jumping into it and all.

"Sora, what I was trying to say before…"

She lifted her head off my shoulder and looked straight into my blue pools. "Yama…"

Click! A flash went off blinding us both. Once I had regained used of both my eyes I looked over at the culprit; Mrs. Takenouchi. "Sorry!" she exclaimed. "I couldn't resist. The two of you looked so cute!" she looked down at her watch. "Sora, it's ten thirty. We've gotta go. Tomorrow's going to be a long day. You'd better go say goodbye to your friends." Mrs. Takenouchi walked off.

Sora and I looked at each other. "I'd better go say goodbye to the others. Talk to you in the morning?" she asked.

"Of course." I responded. Tell her you baka! Do it now! Sora leaned over and kissed me on the cheek before walking away. Why didn't you tell her? You had the opportunity and it passed.

My father came over and told me it was time for us to go as well. I stared out the van window the whole way home looking at the moon, a tear threatening to fall from my eye. Sora, I love you…

A/N: Please don't hate me! I really didn't mean to be that cruel! Don't expect Yama to be down and out though, there is still more to come. Tell me what you think of this chapter! I'll put up the next chapter soon. Meanwhile, I've gotta go to a softball game! Please review and thanks to all of you who do!


	8. Bright Lights

What 'Love' Means to Me

By theladyknight

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, any of its characters, or the song "Bright Lights" by Matchbox Twenty.

A/N: Chapter 8, Sora's departure. I switched to Sora's POV near the end, but you'll be able to tell when. This chapter was so hard to write but go read on to find out what happens. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed! You guys are so awesome! Anyways please R&R and enjoy!

**_Meimi-san:_**_ Thank you! I'm glad you were able to confess your feelings, hopefully Yama will be able to as well…_

**_Yume-dream:_**_ Sounds like a good idea to me! Hope you like this chapter…_

_**Yama-sama:** I love the idea! But I didn't end up using it. Hope the one I used is ok._

**_Sorato4eva:_**_ I answered that in here somewhere…I think…_

Chapter 8: Bright Lights

This is it. In exactly two hours, Sora will be heading for another country; Lord knows if I'll ever see her again. I rolled out of my bed to the sound of my persistent alarm signifying it was five o'clock.

I've spent the past three weeks dreading this day and now it is finally here. And I was definitely not ready for it. I halfheartedly got out of bed, yawning, making my way to the shower. I turned on the faucet letting the water flow down, not caring that it was ice cold. Who really cares about anything anymore?

My shower ended, and I climbed out, putting on a robe and just sitting on my bed. Slowly I walked over to my dresser and grabbed the cd and the long note I'd written her. I was planning on giving it to her today before she left. But that was back when I'd assumed I'd already told her I love her.

Everyone had to choose the wrong time to interrupt us. Every free time I got with her, I tried to confess my love for her, but someone always would appear. Between all the fast songs and the fact Sora had to mingle with the other guests, I ran out of chances. Ishida, you have to tell her today or you're never going to get over it.

I glanced at the clock, realizing I had better get ready. Because of the all the security measures and the large amount of things the Takenouchis were taking with them, we the Chosen had all agreed to meet as early as possible in order to get our goodbyes out of the way.

It was a sad day for all of us, not just me. Sora meant so much to each and every one of us, and this goodbye would be one of the hardest things we would ever have to face. To say we would shed a few tears would be an understatement. I have a feeling even I, someone who hardly ever lets their emotions show, will be crying by the time Sora takes her last steps in Japan.

There was a knock on my door. Knowing it was my father and that it was time to go, I grabbed the cd and letter and made my way out the door. Traffic wasn't too bad but considering what was going to be happening in a few hours, made the trip seem like an eternity.

Finally we approached the airport. My father drove around searching for a parking spot though he didn't have much trouble finding one at this time in the morning. I walked slowly behind him, feeling as though I was walking to my doom. "Yamato, let's go." Dad said, turning around and looking at me, eyes full of sympathy. My father, though our relationship hadn't always been the greatest, truly cared about me right now. He could sense the inner turmoil I was facing and just seemed to understand the dilemma in my life.

We walked in an unnerving silence, looking around the terminal for familiar faces. Directly in front of us sitting in a chair was Taichi along with Hikari and his parents. His parents were good friends of the Takenouchis, and they were nearly in the same boat as the rest of us. Taichi, well words don't even begin to describe the way Taichi is acting. I've really never seen him like this before. Hikari had already begun to shed tears, though I saw no sign or Sora and her family.

I looked around the corner and saw both Mimi and Koushiro with their families. Mimi was nearly beside herself so Koushiro took her hand and led her over to us. Jyou and Takeru came over to the group from opposite sides of the terminal.

We all looked at each other able to see the suffering we all were facing as a whole, yet the individual sufferings as well. My eyes traveled to each chosen, greeted by the miserable expressions on every face. Everyone had their own memories of Sora that were special and important to them. Yet again, the eight of us were facing another challenging situation and just like always, we were in it together.

Jyou finally broke the silence in a labored voice. "It's 6:15. Where do you think they are?"

"I'm…" Taichi managed to say, "I'm sure they're coming. Maybe they…got hung up."

"They'll be here." Hikari answered quietly, wrapping her brother up in a hug, which would be the first of many today. Our normally loud happy group waited in silence. No one wanted to say anything. The minutes passed and there was no sign of the Takenouchis.

I had taken to pacing around the chairs. My little brother put a hand on my shoulder trying to calm me down, but I shrugged him off. Mimi's perfect nails and manicure were going to waste as she sat in between Koushiro and Hikari biting them nervously. Taichi kept glancing at the west entrance while Jyou was watching the east entrance. 6:30, 6:35, where are they?

Our parents were looking just as frustrated and worried as we were. My father and the Yagamis were making very sparse conversation, attempting to pass the time. The other parents just sat on the chairs, feeling how down and depressed their children were.

I watched the other people around the terminal, still keep up my pacing. There was an elderly man and woman, both sipping coffee and getting ready to board their flight. I saw a young family with three kids, all of whom had to be under five. A couple, most likely in their early twenties was saying their goodbyes. The guy held his girlfriend in his arms and was kissing her passionately. If I had been able to tell Sora I loved her last night, would that be the way we would have looked this morning?

"This is hopeless!" Taichi finally reached his breaking point. "I'm outta here. She's not coming!" Everyone stared at him. He and Sora had known each other longer than any of the rest of us, and he was giving up on her.

"Taichi," I began only to be interrupted.

"You are giving up on me, Yagami? Boy, I thought we were friends!" We all looked to see the speaker with her eyebrows raised. Sora stood in front of us with a mountain of bags behind her along with her parents. Sora's mom and dad walked over to say their goodbyes to the Yagamis while Sora wrapped Taichi in a hug.

" Nah, I knew you were coming."

"I'm gonna miss you, oh fearless leader." Sora answered in response. Suddenly Taichi lost it. He buried her head in her shoulder and started to cry. "Sora, it's not going to be the same without you. Who's going to laugh at all my jokes? Who's going to translate all the big words Koushiro uses? Who's going to remind me when Hikari's birthday is? Who's going to break up all the arguments Yama and I get into about who has the better hair? Who.." Sora cut him off, giggling at first then laughing.

Taichi stopped crying. "Taichi calm down! Somebody will laugh at your jokes, and well just about everyone could translate for you."

"Not Yamato!" Taichi exclaimed. "He didn't understand what Koushiro was going off about the other day."

I rolled my eyes. Leave it to Taichi to come up with something like that at a time like this. "Baka." I murmured catching Jyou's eye.

"Taichi, would you please listen!" Sora exclaimed. "There is a little device, I'm not sure if you've heard of it, it's kind of a technological wonder, you know, a computer with e-mail. And every now and then if it's really important I'll waste my money building up a phone bill just to listen to your troubles. I'll be able to remind you when your sister's birthday is along with everyone else's. And you and Yama hardly fight anymore. If you do it should be nothing Mimi couldn't handle." Taichi looked at me, and we both gulped. He didn't want to be on Mimi's bad side again. "And besides, Yama's got the better hair; there's no argument."

I gave Taichi a look of triumph. Wait a minute, she likes my hair best! Yay! He folded his arms. "He does not have the best hair. But I guess you're right. I'm going to miss you a lot. You're like another little sister to me." Sora rolled her eyes as the rest of us laughed. "What?"

"I may have to remind you when my birthday is too, Tai. I'm older than you." Taichi flushed crimson.

"I knew that." He gave Sora one last hug and a kiss on her cheek, causing Sora to let a few tears fall down her face. This made me burn with rage.

"Calm down, Yama. Didn't you just hear what he said?" Keru whispered.

"Huh," I replied pretty confused.

"He thinks of her as a sister, not a love interest." I looked at Taichi and Sora and then back to Keru. A smile lit up my face.

"I can work with that!" I responded, knowing I had to have the goofiest smile on my face.

Sora then moved onto Hikari. "Sora, I'm going to miss you so much. You've always been an older sister to me and you've been my role model, especially considering Taichi is my brother." Her response earned a smile from Sora and a vehement muffled exclamation from her brother.

"Take care, Hikari. Look out for everyone, mainly the troublemakers," she said causing both the girls to laugh. "I'm going to miss you so much and miss seeing you grow up." The waterworks had started. I could tell by 7:00 each of us would shed their own fair share of tears. Sora gave the younger girl one last hug and whispered something in Hikari's ear that made the bearer of light blush.

The Takenouchis made their way to Taichi and Hikari saying their own goodbyes. I looked at our group of digidestined and realized my luck. I was last again. Glancing at my watch, I realized Sora would have to make her goodbyes even shorter. They had fifteen minutes until their flight began boarding. Sora gave Jyou, then Koushiro each a hug, tears coming through the laughter they all shared.

I could hear my watch ticking away. Hurry Sora, I need to tell you. She made her way to Mimi, and I knew the tears would really flow here. None of us could hear any of the exchange between the two, but it nearly brought tears to all of our eyes. Mimi gave Sora the large photo album, which Sora placed in her carry-on bag and promised to look at during the long flight.

After one last hug, the two girls separated, each bearing tears running down their face. Sora's parents caught her attention and told her to wrap it up. They needed to make their plane. Takeru and I both stepped over to Sora. Frankly, I want to tell Sora I love her when we are alone, but considering Takeru already knows and time is running out, I'll work with it.

Sora wrapped Takeru in a hug, both of them alternating between laughing and crying at some memories. She knocked off Takeru's fisherman hat and ruffled his hair in a loving gesture. I saw my younger brother trying to keep it together but fail. Sora, just as she had done to Hikari, whispered something in my little bro's ear that made him blush.

Tears began forming in my eyes as Sora made her way to me. "Yama…" she started.

"Sora! We have to go. Make it quick." Sora and I looked at each other, tears falling from both our eyes.

"Stay strong." I whispered, brushing the tears from her eyes. "Sora, I lov…"

"Flight 88 to New York City…" I drowned out the rest. That was my last chance to tell Sora…

"Here," she whispered brushing a slip of paper into my hand as her parents yelled at her once more. I squeezed her hand and pulled out the cd and note, putting it in her bag though I don't think she noticed. There was no time to explain and no chance to say three little words. The rest of the chosen encircled us. I kissed her cheek as her parents frantically began picking up their bags. Sora slowly released herself from my grasp, letting her hands travel to my face and repeat the gesture I had done moments before, clearing the tears from my eyes.

She picked up her bags and the eight chosen joined in a group hug. We all parted, allowing Sora to follow her family to board the plane. Tears began from all our faces. My shoulders began to shake as Sora turned around once more; tears again built up in her eyes as she gave one final wave goodbye.

I gave my brother a pat on the shoulders as he shook his head. "I'm sorry, Yama."

"It's not your fault, Keru." I whispered back, looking around at the other digidestined. Hikari and Jyou were attempting to comfort Taichi while Koushiro was hugging Mimi tightly. "Fate just has a weird way of bringing two people together and then slapping them in the face at the last moment."

"You two will be together someday," Takeru said, looking up at me, his blue eyes full of hope.

"Yeah," I answered wistfully. "That is if I can ever get a minute alone with her to get the last two words out…"

Takeru continued his talk. "Love and friendship belong together, Yamato, and I know they will be."

One by one we managed to get up and get ready to leave. "Big brother, what was that thing Sora gave you before she had to leave?" Keru questioned.

"I don't know." I answered. "I'll open it on the ride back." Then I got an idea. It was just past seven and I didn't want to spend the whole day wallowing in self-pity and despair. "Come back with us, Keru. We can hang out together today. I would much rather have someone with me today than be alone."

"Me too, Yama." He answered. "I'll go check. Tell Dad not to leave without me though." Takeru ran over to our mother and began talking quickly. I caught her glance but looked away. Takeru ran back over and nodded. "She said I can go."

Dan walked over and after learning Takeru would be coming with us, led us out to the van. Keru and I both stopped when we heard the sound of a plane taking off. We looked above us at the sight of Sora's plane flying overhead, off on its way to New York. Goodbye, Sora.

Keru and I climbed into the van and dad took off. I pulled the piece of paper out of my pocket and read:

Yama,

By the time you're reading this, I'm probably off on my way to NY. I just wanted to tell you how much I'm going to miss you and be thinking of you when we're out there. Mom and Dad bought me a cell phone before we left so I wouldn't have to use our phone, wracking up a phone bill. Believe me, I would have too. My number's at the bottom, and I hope I'll talk to you, and the others, of course, when I land. Please pass it on to the others from me. I've gotta go, Mom and Dad and yelling at me telling me we'll be late if I don't get my butt moving out the door. People just seem to have a way of interrupting the two of us when we're attempting to communicate, don't they? See you there—Sora

I cracked a smile. Even in the worst times, Sora can still keep her sense of humor. I showed the note to Takeru who muttered something along the lines of meant for each other, but I really didn't catch it. Looking at the phone number I knew that just between the two of us we'd have a very large phone bill. If only there was a way we could talk face to face. As we pulled up back at the apartment I wondered how much money I would have to save up to buy a plane ticket to New York…

* * *

**-Sora's POV-**

I brushed the tears out of my eyes as I looked out the window of the plane. My mom quickly offered me the window seat though I just shrugged my shoulders.

"Sora, honey, it's not as bad as it seems. Everything will get better, you'll see." Yeah everything would be better if you all would stop interrupting Yama when he had something important to tell me! He was so close each time, I could hear the words in my mind, but then again, I may have been imagining things.

The flight attendant stepped in the middle of the aisle and began going over the safety precautions. I completely drowned her out, not really caring what she was saying. Finally the plane took off, separating me from Japan and taking us to our new life in America, something I was really not looking forward to.

My reunion with my friends had been way to short. I guess that was partly my fault. I had been putting off writing a note to Yama until the last minute and just couldn't seem to get the words I wanted to say all on paper. I was going to miss them all so much. Each of them meant something a little different to me, and they were the best friends I ever had.

Thinking of that, I remembered the scrapbook Mimi had given me. She had begged me to look at it on the flight, and seeing as though I had nothing better to do or nothing I wanted to do more, I dug through my carry-on bag in search of the large, pink, go figure, book. But it wasn't the heavy book that caught my eye. It was something else. There was a cd case bearing a shiny new cd and a long letter attached to it. My curiosity got the better of me. I opened up the letter recognizing the handwriting right away.

Sora,

I can't believe you really are leaving for New York. I assumed the eight of us would always be close by each other, growing up and old together. Can't you just see us sitting around a tree in the park with our canes and walkers wondering if Taichi's ever going to cut his hair! J/K, though I do wonder about that sometimes…but moving on, the real reason I'm writing this is well, damn I'm bad at this. Sor, you've meant so much to me, and I'm lucky as hell to have you as a friend. When I first met you I never assumed we would end up as friends. You were the friendly tomboy that everyone loved, and I was the cold distant loner. Guess we proved them all wrong! We've been through so much together. I remember that time when Myotismon caught Hikari and you went and slapped me. I can still feel the sting on my cheek. Remind me never to be on your bad side. I've spent the past three weeks running old memories through my head so much I've worn them out. You were probably the main reason I changed from such a heartless jerk into the person I am today. If I had never met you, I'd be very afraid to see the guy I am today. Thanks to you so many of my wishes and dreams have come true with more to come, hopefully. I bet by now you're wondering about the cd in front of you. The fact you have it is thanks to you as well, if that makes any sense at all. You were the one who encouraged me to talk to the television executive and she ended up agreeing to everything I asked her. She also told me if me and the guys ever wanted to try out the recording studio a friend of hers owns she'd be more than happy to let us use it, especially if she could sit in. Well I took her up on the offer wanting to make the cd for you. Sora, you're one hard person to shop for. Mimi and Hikari would be happy with perfume or something along those lines, but I wanted to give that actually held a lot of meaning. And then bam! this gift was born. These nine songs, though quite honestly I had a lot more chosen, have all been thoughts running through my head for the past few weeks. Every time I thought or heard the song, the first and only thing on my mind was you. Wow, I just realized how corny that sounds. But back to the cd, I went in the studio the other day and recorded these songs just for you. I spent a good deal of time preparing them and hope you like them and realize how much meaning I put into them especially after what I'm planning to tell you tonight. Your party starts in an hour so I'd better go get ready. I guess the point of this long-winded, corny letter is that I'm really gonna miss you Sor. Things aren't going to be the same without you, and I'm gonna be thinking about you an awful lot. And you'd better know I'm expecting a phone call the minute you get to your new place in New York. I don't care what time of the day it is here. I'll get it trouble more than once if I have to in order to talk to you. Love you forever, Yama

I finished reading the letter and felt the tears come back into my eyes. Then the realization hit me. Oh my Lord, that really was what he was trying to tell me the whole time. But then again maybe it wasn't. I reread the letter. I think it is! Oh my Lord! My face immediately lit up and a large smile appeared.

The people in front of me were giving me strange looks so I gave them a smaller, forced smile. Soon they returned to their business. I pulled out a cd player looking at the tracks Yama had recorded for me. _Feel, She Will Be Loved, Walk On_ (A/N: starting to sound familiar…you know the rest…I own none of them!) and six others. I put the note away and pulled out the large pink book. Suddenly my day was looking a little brighter. I flipped through the pages looking at the pictures and recalling all the memories. I knew the people in front of my were probably thinking I'd flipped my lid or something but I didn't care. I looked at a picture of Yama and me in the swimming pool and had to stop and think. I wonder if there's a way I can meet the others, particularly a certain blond face to face. The sooner the better…

A/N: So what'd you all think? The fic is almost done. Next chapter is full of surprises and will be up soon. Hope you guys enjoyed it and I'm off to work on _Artistic Differences_. Please Review!


	9. The Reason

What 'Love' Means to Me

By theladyknight

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, any of its characters, or the song "The Reason" by Hoobastank.

A/N: This is the final chapter. Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed. You guys are the best! I hope you enjoy the last chapter…

**_Raine189: _**_Thank you! I'm glad you like it!_

**_Blondie121147:_**_ I love the idea (laughs) that would be so cute! Yama does seem a lot like the perfect guy…too bad real guys don't act like that (sigh)…thanks for reviewing!_

Chapter 9: The Reason

**-Sora's POV-**

Somewhere between looking at the photo album my friends made for me and the horrible airplane food, I managed to fall asleep.

I really don't know how long I slept for but when I woke up, Olivia Newton John and John Travolta were flying off in a car in the movie _Grease._ (I don't own it!) My mom, noticing I was awake, nudged me. I looked up at her face, seeing how excited she was. That made me, if possible, even more depressed.

"Come on, Sora, this move will be fun. Think of it as an endless vacation."

"How can it be a vacation if I'm never really returning to my real home?"

My father joined in our conversation. "Give us a smile, Sora! Show a little enthusiasm. This is New York City!"

"Yay!" I exclaimed sarcastically, looking away from them and back out the window. I could tell my mother and father were both hurt by my answer.

Finally the plane touched down. We were now in our new home of New York City. My family got off the plane following the couple that had given me plenty of reproachful glances during the flight. Boy did I ever have some funny stories for Yama. Wait a minute, I can call him! He told me to call sometime after we arrived at whatever time that was.

I glanced at my watch but then realized Japan was in a completely different time zone. My watch would have been telling me the time in Japan, but Dad made us reset our watches during the flight so we'd be more adjusted to NYC time. Damn it! I've never been great at math or conversions. I hope he was serious when he told me to call at anytime.

We grabbed our load of bags and were bid farewell by one of the flight attendants. I looked out into the sea of people and gulped. This was mass chaos. My father looked at my mother and me, signaling that we stay close.

Somehow we managed to navigate our way out of the airport to the street. My dad stepped forward to hail a taxi. "I've been practicing." My jaw dropped. You have got to be kidding me!

I guess Dad's "practicing"; I really don't want to know how he was practicing, paid off. A cab approached us, and we loaded our bags in the trunk before climbing in the backseat. "Where to?" The cabbie asked in his distinct New York accent. Dad told him the address, and we pulled out, heading for our new apartment.

The whole trip there, my mother and father both became talking guidebooks. "There's the Empire State Building!" "Oh look, Trump Towers!" "Ooh, Sora look, Times Square." I had to admit these sights were something I was actually looking forward to though I could definitely do without the added unnecessary commentary.

The cabbie made polite conversation with us, every now and then pointing out some of the lesser-known attractions. He pulled to a stop in front of one of the buildings. My family thanked him, and my mother paid him while dad and I unloaded our luggage.

We walked into this building and my eyes instantly liked what I saw. There was a set of stairs leading in opposite directions on the main floor but also a glass elevator near the middle of the room. I looked up and saw what seemed like floor after floor of rooms. Behind the elevator was sitting area complete with television, chairs, and tables. Sitting in one of the chairs drinking a coffee, was a man dressed in a green uniform.

My father made his way to this man, who we assumed was the doorman. "May I help you, sir?"

"I am Take…" he stopped himself in mid sentence and instead replied, "Haruhiko Takenouchi. My family and I will be taking up residence in apartment 714."

The doorman smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you. We've been expecting you to arrive at any time. Here are your keys. Your penthouse is on the top floor. Just take the elevator to the highest floor and you should have no problem finding it. And if you need anything please let me know. The name's Bob, by the way." The older man stuck out his hand and my father shook it. I could tell, if nothing else, I was at least going to like the building and Bob the doorman.

"Thanks, Bob. We'll keep that in mind." With a nod to us, Bob threw away his Styrofoam coffee cup and headed back to his post at the door. My family and I picked up our bags, and I pushed the up button on the elevator.

I could only watch with wide eyes as the elevator went up story by story. This place was phenomenal! With a ding, the elevator stopped, signaling we had reached our destination. We climbed out making our way to apartment number 714 but a sign caught my attention. It read, stairs to roof and Jacuzzi. JACUZZI! Could this apartment get any better! (A/N: My friend's sister lives in an apartment like this…)

"Haruhiko, how on earth did you manage to afford this place?" my mother asked incredulously.

Dad smiled. "Let's just say it was one of the perks of my new job. We arrived in front of room 714 and after a dramatic pause, Dad unlocked it. Words can't begin to describe it. The size of the living room was the same size as our whole apartment in Odaiba. My family and I spent a good half and hour exploring our new home. The word wow is the only word close to describing it.

Once we had chosen our rooms and lugged our bags in after us, we separated to rest after suffering severe jet lag or just to begin unpacking. Actually my intention was to call Yama. Okay it's 1:00 pm here, it's gotta be early tomorrow morning over there. Oh, Yama, I'm sorry! I dialed his number and hoped he remembered what he'd asked me to do! I shakily held my cell phone up to my ear as his phone began to ring.

**

* * *

**

**-Yama's POV-**

I had managed to drift off into a peaceful sleep after an hour of tossing and turning. Takeru and I spent the day together, hanging out and trying to keep our mind off Sora's departure. We had a long day and getting sleep was probably a good idea. School resumed on Monday so the gang and I are going shopping for stuff today.

The ringing of a phone interrupted my sleep. I sat up groggily. Who would be calling at 3 am? Then it hit me: Sora! I picked up the phone and whispered "Hello," hoping Dad hadn't heard the noise from my room.

"Yama!" her sweet voice filled the air. "What time is it over there."

I yawned. "3 am."

"I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed.

"Don't be." I answered. "I told you I wanted to talk to you right away. How is everything?"

"I have so much to tell you, Yama. The plane ride was okay. The food was horrible, but that was to be expected. But even worse than the food were these two evil old people sitting in front of us."

"Come on!" I responded laughing. "They can't have been that bad, Sor."

"Yes they were. They kept turning around and glaring at me every time I was looking at the picture album or reading your letter." She paused. "You are such a sweetheart, Yama."

"Well, I try." I joked back cockily. We both laughed again and continued our conversation. Let's just say it was one very long phone conversation. The seconds turned into minutes, and the minutes into hours. I leaned back onto my bed smiling at something she told me before glancing at the clock on my dresser. "Holy shit!" I interrupted. "It's 7 am!"

"What!" Sora exclaimed. "We've been talking for four hours! I am in so much freaking trouble!"

"I'll talk to you later, k?"

I could tell Sora was smiling. "Of course! And tell the others I say hi! Bye Yama."

"Bye Sor." I hung up the phone and lay back down. Had we really been talking for four hours? I cannot believe it. It felt like only an hour or two. I yawned, now realizing how tired I was. I wasn't supposed to meet the others at the park until 8 am. Guess I can get a little bit of sleep.

Thirty minutes later, there was a pounding on my door. "Leave me alone!" I exclaimed throwing a pillow over my head. The culprit bounded into my room and I glared at him. "Go away, Keru!" A pillow found its way to my brother's face.

"Get up, Yama!" he shouted. "We have to meet the others soon. It's not like you didn't get enough sleep."

"But I'm tired." I whined pulling the covers tighter. "Tell them I'm not coming; that I'm sick." I grumbled.

My brother rolled his eyes muttering, "You're sick alright, love sick that is."

I ignored the last comment. "And tell them Sora says hi."

Takeru pulled the covers off and looked at me. "When did you talk to Sora?"

I yawned. "From 3 to 7."

"Four hours!"

"It's not really that big of deal." I responded putting my hands behind my head.

Takeru looked me square in the eye. "Well did you tell her you love her?"

My mouth fell open and my brother shook his head. I had completely forgotten about that. It was so great talking to Sora and so early in the morning that it slipped my mind. Damn it, I'm such an idiot!

"It's a wonder I still claim you as my brother, Yamato. You can be so stupid sometimes."

"Would you leave it alone, Keru." I retorted. "I know I'm stupid! Don't make me feel any worse than I am."

Takeru left the room, allowing me to get dressed. We made it to the park and spent the rest of the day with the others getting our school supplies and mostly holding all of Mimi's bags. The other six, considering Takeru had been previously informed, couldn't believe I had talked to Sora already but were glad to hear some of the things she'd told me to relate to them.

Turns out over the next three days we all kept in close contact with the bearer of love. She had e-mailed me later, telling me about the lecture her father had given her and how her parents couldn't believe she could talk for four hours with anyone. Guess they don't know their own daughter as well as they thought.

Monday was the first day of school and I was not looking forward to it. Taichi and I would befinishing at Odaiba Junior High. Koushiro and Mimi are a grade below us. Takeru and Hikari will be up here next year. Jyou, meanwhile, is in the high school.

The first day of school is the time when teachers make their first impressions of you, usually deciding to hate you. I'm not a bad student, I'm actually rather smart, but I kind of hang out with a guy named Taichi. Get my point?

Looking back that night while my band and I were practicing, I realized my day hadn't been as bad as I thought it would. The teachers actually were okay and with the exception of one, our science teacher, didn't hate me. Yet. The exception was a teacher from our past, one I thought I'd never have to see since that day at Inoue's store: Mrs. Wong.

Upon seeing me walk into class with Taichi following close behind, she sneered at me. "So Mr. Ishida, Mr. Yagami, where's your other third?"

"She moved." I answered coldly.

Mrs. Wong glared at us. "What a pity. I guess you won't be causing any more mayhem in my class, Mr. Ishida."

Taichi grinned. "But he's got me! If you thought the team of Yamato and Sora was dangerous you have yet to see the mess Yamato and I can cause. Bring on the chemicals!" Taichi exclaimed hysterically.

I started laughing and nudged my best friend. "This is physical science, not chemistry, baka."

Taichi smiled embarrassedly. He looked around the room and pointed, beginning to jump up and down as well. "Yamato look! Chemicals, alcohol, lighters, burners…" his eyes lit up. "ALCOHOL! I'm gonna love this class!" Taichi ran and sat down.

I grinned and followed him though still watching Mrs. Wong. She put her hand against her forehead and muttered, "Is it too late to submit my resignation?"

I tuned my guitar trying to hold back the laughter. Taichi sure knew how to make us laugh. Sometimes stupidity is a good thing. The guys and I began playing and after about twenty minutes, my phone started ringing.

"Take five!" I shouted as we all ceased playing. "Talk to me."

"Yamato, it's Koushiro. We need you at the park ASAP!"

I was confused. "What for? I'm in the middle of band practice."

"Yamato," Koushiro said more urgently, "a gate to the digital world has been opened. Your brother, Hikari, Taichi, and one other kid went in."

"How the hell was a gate opened and when are we going in after them?"

"I don't know but relax, they're okay and all back. Just get down to the park!"

I glanced at my watch. "I'll be there in a few."

Hanging up my phone, I began putting away my guitar. "You're leaving already, Yamato; we're not done with rehearsal!"

"Sorry guys, there's something I've gotta take care of." I replied vaguely, walking in the direction of the park. I saw a group sitting around the swings and knew it was the chosen.

"Here he comes!" Takeru exclaimed.

"Hi Yama." Taichi said.

"Hey everyone, sorry I'm late." Koushiro launched into an explanation of what exactly happened and what it would mean. My thoughts flew to Sora, and I got an idea.

"Koushiro, is there anyway you could contact Gennai about what's going on? And maybe there's someway we can have a reunion somewhere in the digital world. I mean, we haven't seen our digimon in ages, some of us still need to meet these new kids, and we'd all get a chance to see Sora."

"What a great idea!" Mimi exclaimed.

Hikari nodded in agreement. "Yeah! Koushiro please check with Gennai."

"Okay!" he responded as the others congratulated me on the idea. We all separated, heading to our respective homes to do the homework the teachers had already assigned.

The next three days passed quickly and finally on Friday Koushiro got a reply. By that time we'd realized only these new digivices these three kids, Hida Iori, Inoue Miyako, and unfortunately Motomiya Daisuke, possessed could open digital gates.

Gennai however loved our idea and found a way to make it possible. We each contacted someone and as luck would have it, my job was to contact Sora. Knowing the time difference, well actually not having any idea other than the fact it was a day earlier over here, I e-mailed her rather than call at a bad time.

The reunion was planned for Sunday so that we all could attend. Friday, full of boring lectures, Algebra pop quizzes, and Taichi getting his fourth detention, this time for sleeping in class, passed slowly.

Saturday we all gather together the necessities and other things for our picnic/reunion at Gennai's house. Takeru and I separated from the group at one point to go buy "special" items. We had a surprise planned for the others.

I could hardly sleep because I was anticipating tomorrow so much. The night seemed to pass even more slowly than all of Friday. Will Sora feel the same? What will happen after I tell her? Kami-sama I hope this goes well…

We all met at Koushiro's bright and early at 7 a.m. so we could have the most time with Sora and the digimon of course. "Okay everyone, digivices up! It sounds like we might be in for quite a ride."

"What are you talking about?" Daisuke demanded before being sucked into the computer.

One by one the rest of us followed Taichi's mini-me into the digital world. I rubbed my eyes when I was greeted by the bright sunlight. The ground was rather hard and lumpy, something I hadn't remembered. I looked down and laughed. We had all landed in a pile with Daisuke and Taichi on the bottom.

"Could you all possibly get off?" The two shouted in unison.

Laughing, the rest of us got off. Koushiro, with his ever-trusty computer, pulled up a map, and we began looking for Gennai's house. We were standing in the middle of a large garden with a table in front of us. A voice laughed. "I think you're already here." We all looked at this young, handsome stranger.

"Do we know you?" Jyou asked slowly.

"What a hottie." Miyako sighed dreamily. "He's so handsome."

Iori, being the only one it seemed who had any manners, bowed and spoke. "Excuse me, could you tell us who you are?"

The man laughed again. "You don't recognize your old friend, Gennai?" Everyone's mouths flew to the ground.

"But…" Taichi regained use of his mouth first. "But you were an old fart…" Hikari clamped a hand over her brother's mouth.

I took over. "What one of our resident goggle heads meant to say was that you looked a different last time we saw you."

"Digi vitamins, my friend." He smiled then gestured behind him. "These guys have been very anxious to see you."

Shouts of joy echoed through Gennai's yard. "Agumon!" "Gabumon!" "Palmon!" "Tentomon!" "Gomamon!" We, the original digidestined, with the exception of Takeru and Hikari, all rushed towards our digimon. The new digidestined, my little brother, and future sister-in-law were more reserved upon greeting their digimon.

Piyomon appeared too. "Is Sora coming?" she asked quietly looking around.

"Of course! She'll be coming shortly, I imagine. And I bet she'll have a lot to tell you!" Hikari exclaimed making Piyomon smile.

Takeru, our figimon, and I separated from the group and invited Piyomon to join us. The five of us caught up as we walked around Gennai's yard looking for a garden hose to aid us in our surprise.

Takeru and I found what we were looking for and began getting everything ready. Suddenly a pair of hands found their way around my eyes. They were soft and small, and I knew whom they belonged to. "Sora," I whispered turning around and hugging her.

Takeru and the three digimon turned around, and Piyomon rushed forward. "Sora!" she exclaimed. "I've missed you so much! Why didn't you come with the others?"

"I've missed you too, Piyo." Sora looked at her digimon. "The reason I didn't come with the others was because, well, Piyo, I don't live in Japan any more, I live in America."

Piyomon, Gabumon, and Patamon all looked at her cluelessly. Sora gave Takeru a giant hug. "Long time no see." He joked.

"I'll explain it to you later." She told the digimon. Then she moved towards me.

"Takeru," I began, not taking my eyes off the red-haired beauty and finding her hand, "don't let anyone interrupt us. Sora and I need to talk about something." I led her off a little ways. "And if you need to, use all the surprises we were saving."

Sora looked at me, and I could tell the other four were watching as well. I didn't care though, this time nothing was going to stop me. "Yama…"

I put my finger on her lip. "Sor, there's something I've needed to tell you for the longest time. But every time I go to tell you, someone interrupts us. You've changed me and been one of the reasons my life has gotten so much better. You are one of the most important people in my life. I want to be the one you run to if something happens and the one who is always there for you no matter what. What I'm trying to say is…"

I was cut off again. But this time, I really didn't mind. Just as I was going to say those three words, I found Sora's lips on mine. My eyes closed as she deepened the kiss and wrapped her arms around my neck. I wrapped my arms around her waist pulling her closer and returning the kiss with as much need and want. My tongue brushed her lips, pleading for entrance. She relented and let out a small moan as my tongue began to massage hers. I was shocked but not complaining as her tongue began a wrestling match with mine.

When the need for air became too much, we slowly pulled away. She looked up at me, grinning. "I love you, Ishida."

I kissed her once more. "I love you too, Sor." I knew I was grinning like an idiot but could care less. She loves me too!

Sora rested her head against mine. "You think we can make this long-distance thing work?" she asked hopefully.

"I don't think; I know." I responded. "We've dealt with the Dark Masters, Myotismon, and Taichi's singing. Baby, we can survive anything." I lifter her up and spun her around.

"I always knew there was something special about our relationship, something different from the others. And over the past few weeks, I've realized what it is. I'm pretty sure what I feel for you is love."

My face lit up in another smile as I kissed her again. "I've been thinking the exact same thing. If we take this thing slowly, I know we can survive together." Our lips found each others' again, delicatelykissing one another.

"Get a room please!"A voice exclaimed. Without stopping the kiss, I pulled out one of our surprises and chucked it at my little brother. Sora and I both stopped and turned to look at Takeru who was now dripping wet, having met with the unfortunate splash of the water balloon. The three of us picked up the rest of the balloons we had made and went to surprise the others. I wrapped my arm around Sora, and she grinned up at me.

I knew what I had said before was true. We'd faced tougher things than this. If anything, distance was the least of my worries. We'd conquer each problem as it came and with the odd friends we have to support us, there's never going to be a dull moment.

A/N: It's finished! What did you guys think? And more importantly would you say no to a sequel cuz I've got some ideas! And if you have any suggestions for a sequel plz let me know, you all come up with some awesome ideas…Please review and let me know!


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